Child's Play
by ladyamalphia
Summary: Grow up soon little seed. Tails smiled down at the unborn baby. Can one seed turn everything around for him? taismo,sonamy,knuxouge! Read and Review.
1. Chapter one

**A/N** This is my first story on fanfic :O… definitely a momentous occasion! This is just my little story remembering way back to the days of sonic X :) Was I the only one who was obsessed with that show a few years back?! Well probably… But I loved that show xD! Please excuse the stupid grammar and spelling mistakes that I probably made… Well almost definitely made… Please review, and thanks so much for reading!

--LA

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Umm… I don't own any of the sonic characters… they belong to SEGA I suppose... luckies! Please don't sue me :)

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The first lonely star sat alone in the navy, cloud-filled sky. Alone it twinkled, with only the waxing moon for company. All was quiet and the whole world seemed to stand still, until the tiny snap of a twig broke the silence. Two small silhouettes dashed out into a clearing in the dense forest. They whispered to each other nearly inaudibly, trying to make as little noise as possible. 

"Stay close behind me." said a hushed male voice, tightly holding the hand of the other dark figure. "It's dark, and you wouldn't want to trip… There are lots of old roots and rocks in this part of-"

"It's alright, Tails. I'm right here." replied a female voice, with the tiniest of giggles.

Tails felt himself blush, and the shy kitsune was grateful for the blanket of darkness which covered as far as the eye could see. Though he could only see a dim outline of the girl walking beside him, he knew her well enough to tell that her blue eyes were fixed on the unpredictable ground of the path, trying not to stumble. He smiled to himself. He imagined her soft face and short green hair. He pictured her petal skirt and top. As his mind's eye reached her gentle eyes, he froze the image. He had memorized every dash of Navy, every pale highlight in them from constantly staring at their owner. Cosmo. He continued to lead her through the forest, extremely conscious of her hand in his. They hiked in silence for a few minutes, until Tails stopped suddenly. Cosmo tripped over her own feet and stumbled into Tails' arms. He blushed again and helped her get her balance again.

"C-Cosmo! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. Are… You alright?" She answered, sounding shaken.

The silver sliver hanging high in the sky now cast a dull light onto the pair. Their eyes met briefly for a moment, before tails quickly looked away. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Um… We're here." He let go of Cosmo's hand and walked up a grassy hill. She followed him, again trying her best not to trip. Tails reached the top and sat down. Cosmo followed suit, sitting next to him with a smile. They sat for a moment, watching the moon and few stars which had escaped from the cloud cover.

"I-I've been thinking… And I wanted to… To tell me how you feel…" Tails smacked himself mentally. He took a deep breath to calm himself and wondered in annoyance why he could reprogram a machine to do just about anything, but couldn't talk to Cosmo without making a fool of himself.

"I'm sorry… That came out wrong. I meant to say tell _you_ how _I _feel."

Cosmo smiled at him and put a finger on his lips to silence him.

"Tails," A sudden wind sent a chill down Tails' back. "You don't need to say anything." The wind got suddenly stronger and Tails shuddered.

"No Cosmo, but I want to." It blew even harder. Tails grabbed Cosmo's hands in his.

"I…" Tails had to squint because of the growing wind.

"LOVE…" he screamed. A sudden burst of wind caught Cosmo. It tugged her loose from Tails' hands. He snatched them again, pulling with all the strength he could muster. The wind fought back with just as much force. Tails cried out in panic. He lost one of her hands and grabbed the other, pulling with both hands but the wind was too strong for him to fight. It snatched Cosmo out of his grip and pulled her up into the air. Cosmo met Tails' eyes with a blank look on her face. The wind dragged up to the sky and out of sight. Tails watched the spot where Cosmo disappeared in horror.

"You." He collapsed onto the ground, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Cosmo…" He whispered. "Cosmo."

Miles Prower jolted up and opened his startlingly blue eyes. Wide awake and breathing heavily, he thought to himself '_just a dream'._

He looked around at his surroundings; his workshop. He had fallen asleep the night before, tinkering with a plant incubator. He blinked and wiped sleep from his eyes with a yawn, regarding the many tools on the metal table in front of him. He paused when his eyes met a tiny flower pot full of soil sitting on a tiny satin pillow. Living in the pot was a budding sprout, just poking its head out of a tiny seed buried carefully in the dirt. Tails lovingly stroked the little plant. Gently, he placed the pot inside the incubator, closing the door carefully.

"Grow up soon little seed."

He smiled down at the unborn baby. Cosmo's seed. It pained him to think back almost three months earlier, when Cosmo…

Tails flinched. Not thinking about it was the only thing he could do to not be overwhelmed with guilt**  
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**A/N:**For anyone who never watched sonic X, here's a summary of what happened: 

Cosmo came from space boom and crashed onto… Sonic's planet… and blahdadada… Tails fell in love with her (well sort of)… but tails had to umm blow her up to save the universe. Something along those lines. For all the sonic X episodes in english, look up the use "tehsonicxepisodes" on dailymotion . com.

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Tails grabbed a jacket from a hook on the wall and zipped it up to his chin to protect him from the chilly November air outside. He pushed a button beside the hook and the massive doors (designed to fit machines of all sized) opened to the ceiling of the tall room. He stepped outside onto his front porch and pushed another button, this time outside which closed the door. Deep in thought, he slowly made his way towards the library, his second home since he learned how to read. When he arrived, he smiled at the librarian Rebecca. She returned the smile and waved at him pleasantly. He walked towards the "Home Care and Gardening" section without pausing, having memorized the library years back. He scanned the books on the shelf until he reached a thick book on gardening. With much effort he carried it to Rebecca, and hauled it onto the desk. She checked it out on her computer and handed it back to Tails. With much effort, he dragged it home and onto his bench, preparing himself to read the 731 page encyclopedia of raising a healthy plant baby. 

"For Cosmo." He said aloud, and set to reading.

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**A/N**: Oh my goodness :o! The end of chapter one I suppose… VERY short chapter, but please review! 

--LA


	2. Chapter two

**A/N**: Okie Dokie! First, I want to say thanks to the people… sniffperson… who responded :D You are my hero! Second, I should apologize for how long it might take me to write my chapters. I'm out at camp virtually all summer, and water skiing on Lake Superior is a bit of a gamble so I have my eye on the lake a lot. Also, I am a complete spaz and really forgetful, with almost illegible penmanship so you can imagine how tough it would be to write anything without loosing it or spilling my lunch all over it (I actually dropped tomato soup all over a rough draft just the other day). Third, I finally got my hands on the new Harry Potter book (OWOW:D) so there's another random thing which distracts me from writing. Umm... although I would just love to write "Fourth", I should probably write, or people might spork my eyes out... No? Ahh well maybe spoon? No? Oh boo. I'm not a world famous writer... or am I?... so the spotlight often passes over me and my novels which I call "Author's Notes".

-- LA

P.S: Sorry about this chapter. I wrote it late at night so it's really rushed and umm... TOTAL CRAP!

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You guys know the drill… I don't own the sonic characters and yadayadayada…

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With a cavernous yawn, Tails sat alone in his workshop in front of the massive and dusty archive which was a gardening book. He thought back to the hundreds of books he had read. From "Everybody Poops", to science magazines of all genres, shapes and sizes, to his vast collection of encyclopedias. Why, he wondered, was reading this one book such a challenge? Why did each page seem to take hours? Honestly, he knew the answer. He was not the least bit interesting in gardening. From infancy, he had been fascinated with machines, mechanics, electronics. To him, reading seventy-five pages on transplanting cherry tomatoes seemed so bland, so utterly boring in comparison. He was disgusted with himself._ 'For Cosmo'_ he kept repeating in his head, to get himself through one more seemingly endless chapter, but _'For Cosmo'_ just didn't seem to motivate him. He scolded himself mentally. 

_'How can you be so selfish?' _An angry voice in his said_ 'You said you loved her, but you can't even finish a measly book for her own child.' _He felt sick to his stomach, and completely exhausted despite the glow of the morning sun spilling through the open windows and onto his face. As it had countless times in the past months, his gaze fell upon the plant incubator. He gently opened the little door and lifted the pot out and cradled it in his arms, careful not to let any soil fall onto the hard, tiled floor at his feet. He let out a little gasp of surprise and pleasure. A tiny green seedling pushed its little head out of the dirt. Its eyes were undeveloped, and its sex was uncertain, but it was clearly alive. Although unseen, a tiny and delicate heart beat inside its sprout of a body. Perhaps he didn't need a book to grow the little child. He wondered if he was capable of a maternal instinct; would things which came to mothers as common sense seem far-fetched and senseless to him? With much difficulty, he closed the book which contained a library worth of information and pushed it of the table to the floor with a grunt. It landed with a thump. Feeling a bit guilty afterwards for mistreating a library book, he lifted it onto its side and pushed it up against a sturdy table leg and dusted it off. For a few more moments, he watched the infant plant. Though it didn't move, he found himself able to stare it for what seemed like forever. A loud knock snapped him out of his trance. He blinked and stood up quickly, dashing to get the door. He looked through a peep hole on the door, seeing nothing but red and a white crescent moon.

"Tails! Lemme in!" Knuckles called from outside, banging loudly on the door again. Tails opened the door and greeted the echidna, who looked annoyed to say the least.

"Um… Hi Knuckles." Tails said with a tired smile.

Knuckles angrily muttered something under his breath. Tails noticed that Knuckles was holding a plastic bag in each hand.

"What have you got there?" Tails asked, referring to the bags.

Knuckles looked embarrassed for a moment, but quickly flashed back to angry. "Well, the master emerald was acting up because it sensed a chaos emerald, so I went digging around to try and find it but I was digging around so fast, and there was so much dust in the air that I didn't notice that I had turned around in a circle and I uhh… Crashed into the master emerald shrine and busted my gloves." He lifted the bags onto the table, just about squishing the little potted plant. Tails quickly moved it to a safe table in a far corner. "So… I was hoping you would-"

"Fix them for you?"

Knuckles nodded, again looking embarrassed.

"If it's not too much trouble."

Tails sighed, but quickly faked a smile

"No trouble Knuckles. If you leave them with me, I can have them fixed by tomorrow."

"Thanks Tails." Said Knuckles, but he looked troubled.

"What's the matter? You look… upset." Though he didn't expect Knuckles to bare his soul, Tails hoped Knuckles would explain.

"It's that damn bat, Tails!" He groaned and punched the wall, chipping the paint.

"You mean Rouge?" asked Tails, confused.

"Yes!" Knuckles cried in exasperation. "I can't stand her, but I can't stop thinking about her! She drives me insane, but I find myself thinking she's fascinating!"

Tails didn't know what to say. To him, Knuckles had always been stubborn, sometimes hot-headed even, but always secretive about these things. And the fact that Knuckles, who Tails had never been particularly close to, was sharing these emotions with him left him mute and looking shocked. Knuckles looked just as shocked at his own outburst as Tails. Eyes wide, Knuckles cleared his throat and tried to fill the awkward silence.

"Um… Sorry. So… I'll come by tomorrow to pick them up. Bye." Without another word, Knuckles left Tails alone in the empty workshop. Tails felt like a child. He had always thought Knuckles to be raw and devoted to nothing but guarding the master emerald, without emotions or worrying about anything but his work. Now, that he had seen Knuckles out of his tough shell, he didn't find him so impressive, so daunting and intimidating. He felt furious with himself. How could he blame Knuckles for how he felt? If it was Cosmo…

He stopped himself. Resolving to forget the fiasco, he turned to the mangled gloves. They were completely totaled, the right worse than the left. Grateful for something to do, Tails set to work tinkering away at them. It took him about half an hour to repair both, reinforcing each in hopes that it wouldn't happen again. He set them by the front door for the next day.

With a bored sigh, he walked over to the seedling, still deep in thought. He knelt down beside the table so his face was level with the pot. He furrowed his brow. The little plant which had, an hour earlier, only poked about a centimeter out of the soil, now stood almost five centimeters. In fact, when he looked close enough, he noticed that he could actually see the little sprout growing before his eyes, though extremely slowly. Were plants supposed to grow this quickly? Tails looked outside at a few meek flowers he had planted. None of them grew four centimeters an hour.

He watched it grow for a few more minutes, until an idea hit him suddenly. He sprung up off his knees and grabbed the pot. He carried it over to the incubator and carefully placed it inside. Because there was no window on the door, Tails could only wait and hope his prediction was correct. After ten minutes of silent patience, he apprehensively opened the door and peeked in. He gasped in surprise. Where there had, only a few minutes previously, been a tiny, undeveloped seedling, now sat an infant, about to drop from its green "umbilical cord". With a jump, Tails reached inside and… picked the baby.

It felt so strange to pull a newborn from the only thing it had ever known, as if it was a tomato. He gently cradled it in his arms and it very slowly opened its eyes. They were the same shade of blue as their mother's, and it became suddenly obvious to Tales that it was a female, a she. Tales looked down at her and saw the pretty face of Cosmo. Bittersweet tears swelled in his eyes, both from seeing his friend and from succeeding in planting and growing her seed. The next thought that came to his mind seemed obvious; a name. He tried to think of a name that would describe her soft, round face and kind eyes. It came to him after a seconds thought. Hina. Her name was Hina.

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**A/N:** Hey everybody! Thanks so much for reading. You're great! You know… I _do_ love when people respond, don't you? (hinthint, winkwink, nudgenudge) Anywho… Thanks again. And by the way, Hina is the Japanese name meaning "sun, sunlight" or "day, sun" combined with "vegetables, greens", so I thought it was a nice name for the baby. Hoorah! 

--LA


	3. Chapter three

**A/N:** Alright. I'm so sorry this chapter has taken so long… My parents went camping so I was babysitting my five year old sister. God that kid's high maintenance. She needs like a novel's worth of stories read to her every night, then you have to make up and tell her a story, then sing her a song… then cuddle… then deal with "I had a bad dream" or "My leg is sore" every five minutes. And yet I love kids… Why that is is one of the mysteries of life. On a lighter note, I am so grateful to everyone who reviewed …yay… the count is up to three. The three… well two of you who took the time are so amazing :D! Oooh and thank you SO MUCH to sonicliveson who helped me fix my crappy story description. Maybe that will get me some spotlight drools. Only joking! Please read AND REVIEW!

--LA

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I don't think anyone actually READS this, but I don't on any of the characters in my story. All of them belong to SEGA… You know… the usual things we say to avoid being sued.

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With an impossible amount of innocence, the tiny form of a baby silently slumbered on the messy bed. Tails was so relieved to see Hina's astonishing maturity when it came to crying, expecting to not get a moments rest until she grew. In the three hours she had been truly alive, the infant had made virtually no noise. Tails watched her sleep in awe; he found it unbelievable that this living, breathing child had come from next to nothing in only three short months. 

Hina's resemblance to her mother was truly amazing. Excusing the size and age difference, she could have been mistaken for her mother, except for her colouring. She had tiny, pink buds forming in her sea green hair, and her pale skin was tinged turquoise. Her eyes, though Tails hadn't managed to really look at yet since she had slept since he plucked her from her stem, seemed to be vivid electric blue. Her dress was exactly like her mothers except, again, for colour. Apparently, to Tails' surprise, plants were born with their clothes, made of many delicate leaves and flowers, already on. He felt fairly relieved, having had mixed feelings about shopping for baby booties and little sun dresses.

Hina stirred in her sleep, grabbing at the air above her. Almost instinctively, Tails stuck his hand out to comfort her. Her tiny hands grabbed his index finger, making it seem huge in comparison. Her grip, surprisingly strong, tightly held his finger. She jerked and turned onto her side pulling him with her. He almost lost his balance and fell onto his bed where she slept. In all his haste to incubate and grow her, he had completely forgotten several important necessities of a new baby; a crib and bottle were at the top of the list. A crib, he thought, would be easy enough to make, and he trusted his own work better than a store's.

He set up a walkie-talkie he had reprogrammed to be a baby monitor, leaving one with Hina and taking its pair with him to the workshop. Though he hated to leave her alone, Tails knew the crib had to be made, so he set to work measuring and cutting each piece precisely. Feeling completely in his element, Tails, decided to make the crib as breathtaking as its inhabitant. The wood he used was polished and varnished to perfection, and the nails and screws were custom made to blend seamlessly with the wood. When assembled, the crib looked just as he had pictured it. The dark wood was sanded to be soft to the touch, as well as strong and steady. After finishing, Tails decided to add one last touch; with a strong laser, he carved "Beautiful Hina" onto one of the bars. He stepped back, admiring his work. He had a feeling that building a crib, however elaborate, was going to be the easiest thing about raising a baby.

The frigid autumn wind blew the last of the leaves off the trees. The first snowflake fell upon the ground, melting on site. Soon, however more and more joined it until their cold overwhelmed the soil's heat. The snow began to pile like icing sugar on exposed surfaces flat enough to hold them.

The temperature dropped so much that a blue hedgehog asleep on a rooftop would be able to see his breath rise up in front of him, were he not napping lazily. His ear twitched and he opened a green eye. The wind stung at it like needles and he stood up to leave, squinting and rubbing his eye. Sonic jumped off the roof and into his front yard with a yawn. He shivered, his quills rattling and dashed in the front door. He rubbed his numb hands together, annoyed at being awoken from his nap by the sudden brisk weather. He grabbed a heavy blanket off of a squishy blue couch and wrapped it around himself with another cold shudder. He grabbed a tissue and blew his dripping nose with a huge sneeze.

He groaned; the last thing he needed was to get sick. He collapsed onto the couch yawning again and grabbed the television remote, clicking it on. He looked for something to watch, but only found dull news and infomercials. With another groan and click of a button, he lazily shut the television back off and fell onto his back in boredom.

To his surprise, the telephone (which he expected to be knocked out) rang, breaking his relaxing silence. He muttered in annoyance, but got up to answer it, rushing into the kitchen.

"Hey." He said drearily, half wishing that the phone lines had been knocked out. Tails answered sounding ecstatic.

"Sonic!" He cried. Sonic could feel his excitement. "You've got to come over here! You have to see something!"

Though Sonic was fatigued and cold, he couldn't turn down his friend when Tails sounded so thrilled.

"Sure Tails!" Sonic answered, doing his best to sound excited. "I'll be over soon."

"Great!" Tails exclaimed "I'll see you then… Bye!"

"Bye, Tails." Sonic sighed, burying his face in his hands for another moment, hoping to absorb the heat from the blanket engulfing him. After a mew minutes, he sighed in resolve and got to his feet. He yawned and scratched his nose, dropping his blissful insulation to the floor. Though he knew he would have to face the bitter cold outside to get to Tails, he was going to be prepared this time. From his closet, he dragged several heavy-duty garments. First, he pulled pair of thick pants onto his legs, followed by a parka, jacket, a few hat and mitts.

"After all," he said aloud with a smile to himself "There's no such thing as bad weather…" He opened the front door and was met by a blast of blistering wind. It stung his eyes, the only part of his body exposed, but all in all, he was fairly comfortable and warm. "Just unsuitable clothes."

He marched out onto the lawn against the wind. The powdery snow was now up to his ankles. Unfortunately, insulating clothes could only go so far so soon Sonic was shivering beneath his layers. He strongly disliked the cold; praying for the sun to come back out and melt the snow away… but that would make water. He shuddered. No, melting the snow wouldn't do. The sun would have to get hot enough to vaporize it. For a moment, he lost himself daydreaming of a worldwide sauna, the hot sun beating down… steam rising off the sidewalks.

After a moment, however, he was rudely awoken from his mental paradise by a thump on the back of his head. Although his many hats softened the blow, he still felt a lump forming where it hit. He rubbed his head and turned around. There was nothing and no one in sight. Puzzled, he turned back around and returned his concentration to walking. He silently continued without interruption for a few minutes until- WHACK! Another hit, but this time on his lower back. He looked over his shoulder, confused. Again, he saw nothing. He turned back to face the front and let out a cry. A figure with a black head and empty eyes stood before him.

"AAAAH!" the… Whatever it was grabbed the pompom on the top of his hat and began to shake violently. Sonic watched it, wide eyed for a moment until his eyes fell upon the feet of the creature in front of him. As he took in the red and yellow shoes, green socks and metal pieces on the tongues his surprise was replaced with annoyance.

"Knuckles!" Sonic cried, snatching the balaclava off the echidna's head. Sonic realized that the shaking had been nothing but suppressed laughter which knuckles now released, dropping Sonic and rolling on the ground laughing. Sonic crossed his arms and watched in mild amusement. Knuckles gasped for breath, his eyes watering. He grabbed his balaclava out of Sonic's hands and returned it onto his head, standing up again.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Knuckles said smugly, still chuckling "Admit it- you were scared out of your pants. Wait until I tell everyone that Knuckles the boring old gem obsessed… well that I scared Sonic the hedgehog." He muttered something about 'show them'.

Sonic raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. What are you doing out here anyways?"

Knuckles looked slightly disappointed at Sonic's dismissiveness.

"Well actually, I came to get you. I went to Tails' to pick up my gloves, and he asked me to make sure you were all right in the storm.

"I don't need a chaperone, but since you're here, what is the big news Tails is so excited about?"

Knuckles smirked. "Well, I'd love to tell you but Tails said not to." It clearly pleasured him to know something that Sonic did not. "And let's go. I'm freezing my ass off."

Sonic agreed, following behind Knuckles. Sonic paused, grabbing a handful of snow in his fist and padding it into a hard sphere. Smiling, he stopped walking and threw it full force at the back of Knuckles' head. When it made impact, Knuckles cried out and jumped to face Sonic, looking furious.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" He lunged at Sonic, who dodged it, snickering, and ran away. Knuckles chased after him, but wasn't near fast enough to catch the blue blur who sped away towards Tails' house.

When he arrived, Sonic knocked on the metal door and called his friend's name. Almost instantly, Tails flung the door open with a giant grin on his yellow-orange face.

"Sonic! Come in quick… err where's Knuckles?"

Sonic shrugged and pointed over his back to a barely visible red spot trudging against the wind. Tails looked confused, but quickly said,

"Come this way, to my room." He shut the door and led Sonic through the workshop and into his bedroom. Sonic gasped and froze when he saw the tiny figure of an infant baby sleeping in a handsome crib.

"Her name's Hina." Whispered Tails. Sonic was speechless. He didn't know what to say; should he congratulate his friend, or wish him luck… or offer to help raise her? He thought the latter unlikely; Tails seemed to be doing a fine job on his own and Sonic wasn't crazy about diapers and babies in general.

"She's… just like Cosmo." This was the first thing that came to mind, so he let it out. "Great job, Tails." He patted the proud kitsune on the back. Tails beamed up at him.

"Thanks Sonic."

With a tender smile, Tails left the room, followed by Sonic, and silently closed to door.

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Hey everyone xD! Chapter three is officially…. DONE :D 

P.S: Okay, I lied. It's _almost_ done. I just need to say one last thing:

READ AND REVIEW!!!!

Here is my awesome acrostic poem about reviewing JJ Enjoy… Well you won't enjoy it, but read it anyways.

**R**adical  
**E**veryone (the cool people) does it!  
**V**ery cool  
**I**'ll love you if you do…  
**E**ven if you're really fat, and make me do all the vacuming  
**W**ell maybe not all the vacuuming…

Now see, this is why I don't write poetry. Thanks for reading! Now it's done.

-- LA ...fine NOW!


	4. Chapter four

**A/N:** I don't have too much to say right now… thank you reviewers, once again you amazing people (at least I think you're people) saved me from heartbreak. Okay. I think there will be about six or seven chapters total, so two or three to go. Maybe more, maybe less. I'm not totally sure. I never was good at planning out stories before hand… I just go with the flow, you know… :D I made a rhyme! Go… Flow… that's going to amaze me all day. And you know what I think I'm going to help myself to a congratulatory cookie. They're the best kind, you know. Okie dokie, read on… readers…

--LA

P.S: Read AND REVIEW :D

P.P.S: "Okie Dokie" I rhymed again!!! This calls for another cookie.

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When I own sonic, I will be making my stories into games BUAHAHAH! hemhem. In other words, I don't own them.

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The hedgehog and kitsune sat at opposite ends of the table, an almost empty plate of sandwiches between them. Both were quiet as they ate their lunch, the only sound came from clinking glasses and cutlery. Tails looked troubled for a moment, furrowing his brow. 

"Sonic," He said, sounding nervous.

"What's up?" Sonic asked in his usual carefree tone.

"Err… What ever happened to Knuckles?"

Sonic thought back a few hours, to when he had left the furious echidna alone in the storm outside, but he wasn't troubled.

"Knuckles can take care of himself, Tails. He's always boasting about his independence and how he lives alone on Angel Island. Besides, He's seen worse storms than this."

"I don't know…" Tails muttered under his breath, looking out the window at the blizzard outside. He had seen snow like this many times, but with the wind and glacial temperatures, he thought it might add up to be more than even rugged Knuckles could handle.

Sonic yawned and put his feet up on the table, leaning back in his chair. He saw Tails' face, still looking worried, and sighed.

"Look, if you're that concerned for our red amigo, I'll go make sure he's alright. Alright?"

Tails smiled up at Sonic and nodded.

"Just be careful."

Sonic left too fast to hear Tails' advice, wrestling to get his snow gear on. After a few moments, he was finally suited up. He departed through the workshop door at top speed, planning on spending as little time outside as possible. The frigid wind stung his face and eyes, and he scanned the horizon for the red dot, which would be Knuckles. He rubbed his numbing hands together.

"Where is he?" Sonic quietly muttered to himself. He retraced his steps through the snow, though his footprints were no longer visible, filled in by the relentless falling snow. The cold outside his clothing was slowly creeping through his insulating layers, finally reaching his bare fur. He shuddered and cursed the weather. In an attempt to warm himself, Sonic rapidly ran in circles, feeling the friction warming his legs. He sighed in relief, feeling his circulation quicken. He continued to run, his snowpants growing warmer and warmer.

After almost five minutes, his legs were completely warm and Sonic could see steam rising off his pants. He closed his eyes and imagined that he was running on a hot, sandy beach in the middle of summer, with the sun beating down and warming him. As he fell deeper into his daydream, the sun grew closer and the beach heated up. Sonic now felt a bit uncomfortable and sweaty, his legs starting to turn red from the high temperature.

Something was wrong. The tropical sun was coming closer and closer, and becoming larger as it approached the beach. Sonic was beginning to panic. The warmth he enjoyed was becoming steadily hotter, until it started to sting. Suddenly, his legs began to burn and throb.

He was jolted out of his nightmare by a yell.

"Sonic! What the hell are you doing?" Knuckles came running at him with fists full of snow. Sonic looked down at his legs, which were now screaming in pain. His pants were smoldering to reveal bare legs, blistering and furless. He realized that he was still running and instantly stopped. He fell forwards into a pile of snow, the cold soothing his burning legs. He was confused and in shock, now uncomfortable. His legs were searing, but his upper body was still cold. Knuckles walked over to him cautiously, afraid that Sonic might spontaneously combust. He dropped his handfuls of snow onto Sonic's legs.

"What," he said breathlessly "was _that_ about?"

Sonic blinked and took a moment to reply.

"I'm not sure. What happened?"

Knuckles looked at him in astonishment.

"Your legs were on fire, and you don't know what happened?"

Sonic shrugged, but winced after the movement.

"I wasn't paying attention…" he explained "I sort of fell asleep while I was running."

"Sonic! That's bull. You know that's impossible… now tell me why you were running in circles, on fire, like a maniac!"

Sonic groaned in frustration.

"Whatever. Think what you want, but if you hadn't noticed, my legs are burning here! A little help would be appreciated."

"Right… Sure." Knuckles awkwardly picked up Sonic, obviously trying to make as little physical contact as possible. He carried the hedgehog with ease, though the storm was just as strong as ever. Knuckles brought him back to Tails' house after a short march, feeling like a pack mule. He kicked the garage door, unable to knock. Tails answered, looking afraid. He ushered the two inside the warm workshop.

"Sonic!" he squeaked "You were gone for an hour! I thought you were lost, or someone had-" he paused looking at Sonic in Knuckles' arms "um Knuckles, why are you carrying Sonic? You guys look like-"

"You look like you're coming from your honeymoon." Giggled a female voice from the next room. Amy entered the workshop, a mug of steaming cocoa in her hands. Knuckles scowled and dropped Sonic onto a nearby couch.

"What are you doing here anyways, Amy?"

She smiled sweetly. "I came to see the baby, of course! And what about you two love birds?" Her smile faltered when she saw Sonic's legs. Before Knuckles could answer, Amy shrieked and bolted over to the couch where Sonic lay.

"Sonic! What happened? Are you okay? Who attacked you? Knuckles, if it was you, I swear to god…" she continued to rant about what she would do to anyone who touched her Sonic.

Tails cleared his throat loudly, trying to overpower the fury of Amy.

"Amy, Sonic's fine. And I'd like to know what happened too, but I think we should take him to the hospital. Those burns look pretty bad, and I think his fingers are frostbitten." Amy nodded, finally clamping her mouth shut. "The only problem is I'm not sure how we can get him there… I mean we can't walk, and I wouldn't want to risk flying in this weather."

Amy's eyes flashed.

"My Sonic needs help." She said, putting emphasis on the "my". "If anyone's going to bring him, it's going to be me."

"But, Amy…" Tails began, but Amy cut him short with a piercing look.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I don't care who brings me or how I get there, but if one of you could hurry up and go-" Before he could say another word, Amy picked him up with surprising strength.

"Let's go Sonic." She kicked open the door and dashed out without a word to Tails or Knuckles. After ten minutes of running against the freezing wind, she was beginning to lose some steam. In her arms, Sonic looked up at the determination in her jade eyes.

"You can do it." He wheezed, though the cold air stung his throat. He watched as the wind whipped her quills around behind her. Amy looked down at him with a smile.

"If you say so." She trudged on until the hospital's outline was visible through the sheets of snow. With the motivation of seeing her destination, she sprinted to the front door.

* * *

**A/N:** Unfortunately, I won't be able to write any more of this story because I have become obese due to too many congratulatory cookies. Very sorry, I'm suing the cookie company as we speak. Naww, just kidding. Even if I was an obese blob, I would buy a keyboard with extra large keys for my large, sausage fingers… Not to mention I'm too lazy to go through with a lawsuit. I'm like a mailman… or something… um "Rain, or sleet or…" well I don't know the motto, but it's the same idea. Read and Review please!!! Oh and by the way, you guys have no idea how happy it made me to use spontaneous combustion in a story, even if it didn't actually occur. Ohh and sorry about this chapter. I'm not crazy about the end and it's not very long, but I hope you like it! 

--LA

P.S: READ AND REVIEW!!!!!


	5. Chapter five

**A/N: **Wow! Here comes chapter five!! Thanks reviewers. We're up to six reviews :D!! Unfortunately, you guys are probably going to have to wait about 2 weeks for the next chapter but this is the third chapter I've put up in one day, so that must make up for something :). Sorry everyone. Well thanks for reading! READ AND RESPOND!!

--LA

* * *

I don't own Sonic etc... all the characters belong to SEGA... rolls eyes

* * *

The two boys were silent. The sudden departure of Amy and wounded Sonic was a bit of a shock to them. 

"What," Knuckles asked, staring at the door where they left "Was that?"

"Well, it looks to me like Amy plans on taking sonic to the hospital by foot." Tails said, looking alarmed.

"Alright. Well, I for one want to hear the story of how Sonic could suddenly catch on fire in the middle of a snowstorm. I'm going after them."

Tails frowned. "But I can't leave Hina on her own! She's not old enough!"

"Sorry, Tails." Said Knuckles, scratching his head guiltily "But I gotta go check this out. See you later!" He walked out the door, leaving Tails alone for the second time that day. The kitsune sighed and made his way into the kitchen where Hina was lying in a small cradle. She silently watched him enter the room, and come over to her.

Tails carefully picked up the tiny child and brought her into his bedroom, placing her gently onto a pillow.

"You're just like your mother, little Hina." Tails said to her softly, gazing into her wide eyes. "Just as pretty too." He brushed her hair out of her face, remembering the countless times he had wanted to do the same to her mother, but had been too shy. He was angry with himself for a moment, regretting all the time he had spent with Cosmo without telling her how he felt. All the time he wasted being too shy or too embarrassed to tell her, and now he would never get the chance again. Tears began to fill his cerulean eyes and once again, he forced himself to think of something else, wiping his eyes with his fist.

Tails wondered how plants aged. He knew Cosmo had been about his age one moment, then a mature adult the next. He regretted asking not her. A few questions flew into his mind.

"What do you eat?" He asked her, though he knew she couldn't understand anything he said. "Animal babies eat…" He felt the colour drain from his face. "They drink milk from their mothers." He looked down at his chest. There was no way he could meet that expectation of parenthood. He picked Hina up delicately and placed her in the crib.

"I'll be right back." He kissed her cheek and left the room, going to his living room. He pulled open a drawer and removed a white laptop with the sonic symbol on top. He recalled making it years ago, and felt a surge of pride that it was still intact and working, an achievement that none of Sonic's broken old game systems had met.

He brought it back to the bedroom and plopped onto the couch. He was about to open the computer, when the lights above his head flickered and went out. Instantly, Hina started screaming, catching Tails off guard. He jumped and dropped the laptop, where it made a horrible smashing sound. Though he couldn't see a thing because of the darkness, Tails knew it was finished. For a second, he stared into empty space where he was sure it had landed.

Soon though, Hina's cries snapped him out of his daze, and he rushed over to her crib. He reached in and picked her up, careful to mind her head. He cradled her in his arms, but she refused to hush. Stepping carefully, he made his way out of the room and into the hallway where, again, nothing was visible. He felt his way along the wall into the workshop, quickly locating a flashlight, extremely grateful for his organization.

Hastily, he flipped the flashlight on sending its bright beam across the room onto the wall. Hina instantly stopped crying. Tails sighed in relief, his ears ringing. He carried the baby and the light back to the bedroom, where he placed the now silent child in her crib. He put the flashlight on his bedside table to comfort her. Apparently, she didn't like the dark.

After twenty minutes of lighting candles throughout the house, Tails returned to the room where Hina slumbered. Also exhausted, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep instantly.

"Sonic…"

He could hear someone saying his name, but felt too weak to sit up. The voices around him were clear, but his limbs were numb and his eyelids too heavy to lift.

"Miss Amy, the doctor said to let Mr. Sonic sleep."

He also heard a familiar high-pitched voice, but could not recall to whom it belonged.

"Don't worry, Cream. I saw this on TV once. A man was in a coma, but his beloved wife came to his side and called his name, awakening him instantly. Then they go away to Paris together…" This voice sighed dreamily.

"But the doctor lady said-"

"I told you Cream, Sonic is my true love so the mere sound of my voice could awake him from any sleep."

There it was again, his name.

The higher voice, Cream, spoke again. This time, sounding excited.

"Ooh! I saw that! Except the only way to wake the sleeping person was a kiss from their true love… I don't think just the voice would work."

"That's an excellent idea."

There was a pause where no one spoke though he thought he could hear footsteps. Then he felt a burning tingling on his lips, despite the numbness in the rest of his body. The warmth spread throughout his body and his ear twitched. A bit of sense finally coming to him, he realized he had been kissed… by Amy. He relaxed and let her press herself against him, though he could not press back. After a moment, he felt her move off of him.

"Oooh Miss Amy!" Cream squealed, "His ear moved! I saw it! It worked!" She gasped. "That must mean you are Mr. Sonic's true love."

"That," Amy said breathlessly, "Is what I've been trying to tell everyone for years."

Sonic was now fully aware of his thoughts, though still not able to move. He heard more footsteps, this time coming from farther away.

"Ladies, Sonic needs his rest. He should wake up in about ten minutes when the anesthetics wear off."

"Anewhats?"

"Come on Cream, I'll explain outside."

Amy and Cream left the room, and there was silence once more. Sonic was alone with his thoughts again. Was what the girls said true? Of course it was based on a fairy tale, but Amy's kiss had stirred his mind, when it was supposed to be asleep. Sonic had always thought Amy was beautiful, though he would never admit it, but he had never seriously pictured them together. Now, images of Amy in dazzling white wedding dresses flashed before his minds eye. He saw himself kissing her properly, and the tingling warmth returned to him briefly.

Sonic flickered his eyes open for a. The startling white that met them made them ache for a moment, but his eyes adjusted after a few seconds. He opened his eyes fully to see a white fox who Sonic assumed was a nurse based on her white hat with a red cross. She looked over at him and smiled warmly.

So good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

Sonic shrugged. Honestly, he still couldn't really feel much. He looked down at his legs. Both had clean bandages wrapped around them.

"You're pretty lucky actually. We'll be able to take the casts off again in a few weeks."

Sonic groaned. A few weeks without running would certainly go by painfully slow, but it was doable.

"And then you only need to spend another month in a wheelchair."

His jaw dropped. A wheelchair?

"Actually, I'll go get it for you now!" She dashed out of the room and came back a moment later pushing a wheelchair in front of her. "I even painted it blue to match you!"

She gazed at him, batting her eyelashes and waiting for praise.

"It's… great." Sonic said, his voice thick from lack of use. The fox squealed.

"Ooh I knew you'd like it!" she said, leaving the room quickly. "I've got to go call Alissa and Sara and…" her voice faded away down the hall.

Perhaps it was just the medicine, but Sonic felt dizzy and sick. A few weeks without immobile, then a month in a wheelchair! He panicked and a machine picked up on his stress, sending more drugs into his system. He calmed down and thumped back onto his pillow.

* * *

**A/N:** yes, I'm evil. I always liked the idea of putting Sonic in a wheelchair. Oooh he's gonna hate it. Muahaha! Well, I won't be on a computer for two weeks so goodbye, thanks for reading… and REVIEW PLEASE!! 

--LA


	6. Chapter six

**A/N: **Oh my goodness! Look I've retuned from the black hole which is "visiting relatives" Dramatic music! But, I'm back now and chapters should be coming a lot more often. Oh, and what I said before about how long the story is going to be is nonsense. Like I said, I'm no good at planning ahead, so it's turning out much longer than I… Planned. First thing I have to say is that I am so sorry about how screwed up the last chapter was! See, I uploaded it in such a rush, that I didn't even read it over. So sorry. I can't believe I managed to miss that half the story was underlined! ...x.x Eww such writer's block with this chapter.

Alright. I'm so happy that we made it to ten reviews:D See, I've discovered a pattern…

Chapter one: one review…

Chapter two: two reviews…

Chapter three: one review…

Chapter four: two reviews…

Chapter five: four reviews…

Umm the pattern is… that it increases each time? Well alright no… maybe there's no pattern, but chapter five still had four reviews :D! I'm pretty proud. Yeehaw!

--LA

* * *

Yawwn. I don't own Sonic the hedgehog or any related… (falls asleep)

* * *

Amy gazed out the window dreamily. Although the blizzard still roared outside, her face was completely calm and relaxed. Cream had a feeling that she wasn't aware of the raging weather, and was simply daydreaming about thirty minutes previously. Though she didn't want to disturb Amy in such a blissful state, Cream was simply bored out of her mind. She sighed and slumped back in her chair, counting the ceiling tiles. As the number in her head grew steadily larger, her eyes began to droop. After a few moments, she dropped off to sleep on her chair.

A few moments later, Amy blinked and looked around, snapped out of her daydream by the sound of violent wind and swearing. She furrowed her brow and turned her head towards the culprit of the noise. Knuckles slammed the door behind him, cursing and brushing snow off the top of his head. He grumbled and walked into the waiting room, dropping into a chair beside Amy.

"Oh! Knuckles!" She stood up and handed him a tissue from her pocket. He blew his nose with such force that he sent the fragile pink tissue flying across the room. It landed silently on a potted fern. Knuckles sneezed into his gloves and groaned.

"Hey Amy." He rubbed his eyes and sneezed loudly again. "Damn weather. I can't catch a cold! I've to guard the master emerald!"

Amy rolled her eyes and smirked at him.

"Quiet down. You'll wake Cream-" Knuckles interrupted her with another loud 'ACHOO'. "-And after all, it's only a cold."

Knuckles muttered an apology and wiped his nose.

"Yikes!" said a female voice from the doorway. "Who's dying?" Rouge walked into the waiting room, her makeup flawless despite the snowy gale outside. Actually, all the snow seemed to do to her was whiten her already gleaming fur. She brushed herself off and made her way to Amy, Knuckles and sleeping Cream.

"Rouge!" said Knuckles, sounding flustered and angry. "What do you think you're doing here?"

The bat raised a carefully plucked eyebrow.

"Can't a girl visit a sick friend during a snowstorm?" She smirked at the steaming echidna, though Amy noticed that Knuckles gave the tiniest smile after her attention turned to Cream.

"Friend? You only know the guy through me!"

Rouge ignored him. "What happened to Cream?"

"Too much trauma in one day for the poor thing to take." Amy said with a loving smile towards her sleeping friend.

"So!" Rouge said, plopping into a chair beside Knuckles, "How's the sickie?"

"Well, I was fine up until-"

"I wasn't talking about you, drama queen." Rouge said, rolling her eyes. "I meant Sonic. What happened to him anyways?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out, but no one bothers to explain to the one who saved him in the first place…"

Rouge returned to ignoring him and began talking to Amy about how useless all men were. Knuckles glared at the pair and crossed his arms.

"Well, if no one's going to tell me what happened here, I'll just have to go and see for myself."

"-and they all die from a testosterone OD in the end…" Rouge looked up at him. "Knock yourself out… So I say, why not just put them all in pens."

Knuckles stormed out of the room, the last thing he heard was "Their only purpose is reproducing anyways." He rolled his eyes and imagined Rouge with an estrogen over dose, in a pen… But the images in his head gradually changed to her in a bikini… He shook his head to make the image dissolve, wondering if his strange feelings were, in fact caused by too much testosterone. As he marched down the hallway, he realized that he actually had no idea what room sonic was in. As if on cue, a young nurse, a white fox, hobbled past him, struggling with heeled shoes.

"Hey! Do you know where Sonic the Hedgehog is?" He called to her.

She turned her head and answered over her shoulder "Second floor, room 172."

Before Knuckles had the chance to thank her, she turned around a corner without a word. After almost fifteen minutes of searching, he finally found room 172. He opened the door as quietly as he could and tip-toed inside. Sonic's room was average sized, with white floors and walls and mint green curtains. To Knuckles' surprise, Sonic sat upright in his bed, staring reproachfully at a blue wheelchair in one corner of the room.

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Tails lay on the couch, dead asleep. He snored quietly, baby bottle still in hand. For the umpteenth time, he was awoken by a ringing telephone, feeling slightly annoyed that the lines had not been knocked out like the power. He groaned and decided to let the voice mail take it.

"Hello Tails, this is Vanilla. I just heard the news! Congratulations. If you ever need any help with anything, just give me a call. Good bye." She hung up, leaving Tails with his fifth congratulatory phone call in the last hour. He had no idea how news had spread so fast. As far as he knew, only Sonic, Amy and Knuckles and seen Hina, and all three had been pretty busy that day. He rubbed his eyes, feeling wide awake. He stood up and stretched, saying with a yawn,

"Hello, little Hina." She stared up at him with wide eyes. Tails thought for a moment what he wanted the little girl to call him. Not mother, of course, but father? Dada? After a few seconds, he decided he would rather she just call him by his first name. He took her fragile, soft hands in his,

"See? I'm Tails. Miles Tails Prower." He paused for a moment. "And you're Hina." He put pulled his hands out of her grasp and pointed a finger at her. "Just Hina…" Didn't a child need a full name? Hina startled to gurgle nonsense words.

"Mipro!" She pointed at him, with a toothless attempt at a smile. Then shrieked and plopped down in her crib, still practicing her grin.

Tails cocked his head and looked at her.

"Mipro? Is that me?"

"MIPRO!" She said, now beaming. Tails returned her smile.

"Alright, forget Tails. I'll be Mipro if you want."

"MIPRO!" Again, she loudly repeated this new name, clapping her hands together. The clapping confirmed his theory of plant aging. A normal, animal child would not have been capable of learning such things (Clapping, and simple speaking) in such a short period of time. He believed that she would grow large amounts in extremely short amounts of time, but not at all in between those times. He cocked his head and gazed at her in wonder. She gawked back at him innocently.

She yawned and plopped back onto her bottom, obviously trying her hardest to keep her little eyes open. Tails smiled at her and put a hand on her cheek. She gave up trying to keep awake and gently laid her head on a fluffy pillow, putting a tiny hand on Tails'.

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**A/N:** Yay! Hope you enjoyed this shortish chapter. I actually wrote half of it while watching Little Shop of Horrors. Teehee! That's one of my favorite shows :D FEED ME!!! Anywho, thanks for reading! And… ReViEw!!! You guys are my heroes. 


	7. Chapter seven

**A/N: **OWOW! Here's chapter seven. Thank you thank you thank you everyone who reviewed on chapter six… and all the other chapters too! I think I've finally worked out most of the kinks in my uploading and editing, but if you find an error in spelling… grammar… anything! Please tell me so I can correct it. Anyways, enjoy ;).

--LA

* * *

I don't own sonic or anything like that… But wouldn't that be suhweeet if I did :D!? I would totally use my awesome power to do awesome things… Teehee :3!

* * *

Remorse coursed through Sonic's veins like poison as he stared at the chair which was destined to be his prison for the next month and a half. His legs, plastered strait in a pair of hard, white casts were still mostly numb. He was furious with his own ignorance of friction. It seemed so obvious now; of course fire would start when almost anything, especially something as flammable as fabric rubs together that fast.

For a few minutes, Sonic scanned every detail of the chair with disgust. He scowled as he took in the wheels. What were people thinking? Wheels were nothing close to a substitute of legs, rolling in a chair on wheels could never be compared to running.

He thought of the effort the nurse must have put into painting and customizing it. And why? Because he was a hero. He was only a hero because he could run. And since he could no longer run, he felt empty. Without his running, he would never have met any of his friends, never have met Amy.

Despite how, over the years, her persistent admiration for Sonic had never so much as weakened, she had only loved him because he had saved her. By running. Without his legs, she would probably see him as a normal hedgehog, nothing special.

"Err… Sonic?" The click of a carefully opened door snapped him out of his trance. He blinked and turned his head to see Knuckles entering the room. In an instant, Sonic relaxed his face and smiled contently at Knuckles. The last thing he needed was to be tormented by the echidna about the irony of the situation.

"Oh! Hey, Knuckles." His guest took a seat on the patchy, gray sofa. Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"Well, look who's alive and breathing. You wanna explain what happened out there?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. That sent sharp pain up his forehead, but he ignored it and laughed.

"What a hello." And he told Knuckles the whole story from when he left Tails' house to that moment, although he left out the part about Amy's kiss. He was still not in the mental condition to take the echidna's taunts.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow and laughed out loud.

"So you mean to tell me that you're gonna spend a month and a half in that chair?"

Sonic nodded, putting all his effort into keeping a strait face and not losing his temper. Knuckles wiped a tear from his eye, chuckling.

"See you later Sonic, I've gotta go tell the girls… And Tails."

Though Sonic would have preferred his closest friends to hear the story from him, as he had a feeling Knuckles may change the story a bit, he didn't object as the door closed behind the red echidna. Looking at the clock mounted on the wall, Sonic realized how late it was and lay down to go to bed.

Hina slumbered silently, thumb in mouth and bright flashlight in the crook of her elbow. Tails rubbed his eyes and yawned, completely exhausted. As gently as he could, he lifted Hina and carried her to his bedroom, placing her in the crib as softly as he could. He kissed her forehead and stroked her cheek, retiring to his own bed.

Bright morning sunlight caressed Tails' face, gently waking him. He sat up and stretched, turning to the crib. He jumped in surprise, just managing to suppress a yell as his eyes fell upon the sleeping baby. A pale blue broach had grown, apparently overnight, covering most of her torso. It was bordered with white gold, and seemed to glow slightly.

As silently as he could, Tails tiptoed into out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen. When he reached his destination, he yelped. Amy, Cream, Rouge and Knuckles sat at the table sipping coffee (except Cream, who's mug was filled with hot cocoa).

"Ooh! Good morning, sleepy head!" Cream said cheerfully, with a huge smile on her face. Tails shakily returned it.

"Err… good morning… what are you all doing here this early?"

Rouge laughed gesturing to the stove clock.

"Tails, it's nearly noon. We let ourselves in, by the way."

The fox looked at the clock in surprise. He was usually up by eight in the morning, so the sleep-in came as a shock to him. He grabbed a chair and had a seat amongst the others.

"Sorry. I was up late with the baby."

"Oh Tails, Can I see her? Please?" Cream asked, obviously trying to contain her excitement and remain polite.

"Of course, Cream. But she's asleep now, and I don't want to wake her."

Cream nodded, and returned to her cocoa beaming.

"So Tails, what's it like to be a mommy?" asked Rouge, smiling slyly at him.

Tails smiled back and scratched his head.

"It's great. She's great. Pancakes anyone?"

Cream squealed and waved her hand in the air. As Tails got the ingredients out, Amy said passively,

"Well, I think I'll go check if Hina's up." She got out of her chair, finished her coffee, put the mug in the sink and left the room. Tails grabbed a frying pan and started to cook. After a few moments, he flipped the pancake, and then dropped it onto Cream's plate.

"Thank you, Tails."

Tails made four more, one for each of them. As he sat down with his plate, Amy returned with Hina in her arms.

"Oh, Tails! It's amazing! The gem on her chest, where did it come from?"

Tails shrugged.

"It just appeared there last night. I'm not sure what it is either."

Rouge's eyes lit up.

"Well, well, well…" She stood up and walked over to the pink hedgehog, eyes fixed on the blue stone. "What a pretty girl. May I?" she asked, gesturing to pick up Hina. Tails nodded, smiling. Rouge carefully held the baby, stroking the rock.

"Hmm… too pale to be azurite or sapphire… too blue for turquoise… but such gorgeous colour, and completely flawless… and it brings out those pretty eyes too." She said, gently poking Hina's nose with her finger. The baby giggled and rubbed Rouge's long nails. Tails thought he caught a momentary almost tender look from Knuckles, who quickly returned to his breakfast.

"How's Sonic?"

Nobody answered for a moment, but Knuckles finally explained, looking like he was trying not to laugh the entire time.

"Oh. He's not going to enjoy that chair. Maybe I can make something for him to help…" Images of jet packed wheelchairs filled his mind for a moment, but his thoughts were interrupted by an impatient gurgle. Tails laughed.

"You must be hungry! Breakfast time?" Hina smiled toothlessly, stretching her little arms towards him. He took her from Rouge, tossing her into the air. He grabbed a bottle out of the refrigerator, putting it close enough for her to reach with her mouth.

"Um Tails, you might not want to feed her that milk…" said Amy, pointing to the tiny yellow-brown spots floating in the liquid "It looks kind of dirty."

"Hmm? No. That's just potash. It's a mineral that's supposed to be really healthy for growing plants like our little Hina." He brushed her bangs out of her face, tipping the bottle so she could get more milk. Cream got out of her seat and stepped quietly towards Tails, mouth open.

"She's so pretty, Tails. She's just like Cosmo!"

Tails smiled.

"Everyone says that. I remember Cosmo used to have a stone just like this one, only smaller and red."

"I remember that rock. Ruby."

"How could you remember? You only saw her a couple times!" Knuckles said, raising an eyebrow.

"You think I would forget a perfect ruby like that? Imagine how it would look on a ring…" Her eyes glazed over as she sunk into a daydream of gems and jewelry.

"Would you like to hold her, Cream?" Tails asked. Cream's eyes lit up and she beamed at him.

"Oh, can I?"

"'Course. Just be careful of her neck." Cream nodded, as she gingerly took Hina from Tails' arms, and cradled the baby in her own.

"See Hina? This is Cream."

The rabbit looked into Hina's eyes, and as brown me electric blue, Hina softly cooed a slur of C's and M's.

"Cmmccmmeemm"

"I think she's trying to say your name, Cream." said Amy, smiling at her friend. The bunny widened her eyes and grinned at the child in her arms.

"We're going to be friends, Hina. I know it."

* * *

**A/N:** There you have it ;)! Ohh! I almost forgot to tell you guys! I was SUPER bored the other day… like bored out of my head with writers block… and I drew a picture of Hina so you can have a visual :P I know I did a really shabby job of shading, and I'm aware that she has no hands. Sorry I was lazy xD. Anyways, here's the link. Tell me if this one doesn't work:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2881/hinacolourfflx7.jpg

Okay. Thanks for reading, and please review :D!

--LA


	8. Chapter eight

**A/N: **Wow. I can't believe this is the eighth chapter already! So exciting  and TWENTY reviews :o!!! That's a big number… Hopefully gonna get bigger ;)! Well, please review.

P.S: I've moved the rating up a notch because of… events coming in this chapter :o (oh the suspense)

--LA

* * *

I don't own any of the characters… ohh except Hina :D! She's mine ;) But everyone else is SEGA's.

* * *

Night in the hospital was dead silent. No footsteps echoed down the halls, no monitors beeped steadily. Even the clock on the wall ticked inaudibly. Sonic lay still, fast asleep on his bed.

A few minutes after the hour hand hit four, Sonic opened his eyes and looked around. The sun hadn't yet risen, so it was still too dark to see well. He reached onto his bedside table, and clicked the lamp on. The room was instantly illuminated and the light made Sonic squint, but his eyes quickly adjusted. He yawned and sat up, stretching his arms. He sighed in boredom.

Suddenly, though the door was closed, he heard quiet footsteps from the hall. A second later, someone opened the door, and the nurse pushed her head in looking scared. She leaned into the doorway only enough for her head to be visible. Silver eyes wide, she looked terrified.

"Sonic," she whispered "I-" She peeked over her shoulder and winced, turning back to face him with tears in her eyes. She stepped into the room timidly, her body rigid. Sonic was surprised to see a hand around her waist. The other hand held a gun at the back of her head. The owner of the hands was a cat. He was black from head to toe, and his fur didn't seem to be highlighted or at all affected by the light; it was simply black. His eyes, in contrast, were pallid orange and almost blended in with the whites. The pale irises made his pupils, which were slits from the sudden light, seem to pop.

He gestured towards the machine beside Sonic's bed, and the nurse hurried over, still looking petrified. He whispered something in the fox's ear. She looked in horror from her captive to immobilized Sonic, and then back again. Sonic came to his senses, and tried to yell out for help, but before he could utter a word, a soapy, dirty rag from a mop bucket lifted, apparently on its own accord, and gagged him. The cat pushed the gun harder into the back of the nurse's head, and she winced, biting her lip. She walked shakily toward the machine, her eyes swelling with tears. She sobbed quietly as she hovered a finger just above a button below the monitor. Turning to face him, she whispered,

"I'm so sorry." She closed her eyes tight and pushed a series of buttons, sobbing. The cat pulled the trigger. A bang echoed through the room as the nurse fell to the ground, blood staining her snowy fur red. She lay sprawled on the ground face down, a pool of blood steadily growing around her head. Sonic's eyes began to blur and he fought to stay conscious. The last thing he saw was the cat slinking closer to him, a wicked grin on his face.

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Cream sat on the floor beside Hina, who was sleeping silently on a bean bag chair. Amy was describing to Rouge what it was like to kiss an unconscious person, and Knuckles was playing a video game with Tails. A doorbell ring interrupted them, and Tails got up from the couch to answer it. Vanilla entered the room a few moments later, smiling sweetly at them all.

"Hello, everyone." They all greeted the rabbit, and Cream hopped up and gave her mother a hug. Vanilla smiled down at her.

"May I see the new baby, Tails?"

"Of course, Vanilla. She's right there." Tails said, gesturing to the sleeping child.

"Oh. Well I don't want to wake her, but she is beautiful, Tails. Come now, Cream dear. We've got to go before the snow starts again."

"Oh!" said Rouge in surprise, "Has the storm died down?"

"Yes. I just hope it doesn't start back up while we're on our way home."

"Goodbye, everyone." Cream said, with a little curtsey. Vanilla bid them goodbye, and the two left.

"Well… I should go too, if the weather's calm." Rouge yawned "See ya." And she too departed. Amy shrugged.

"Well, I might as well go and see how Sonic's doing then. Bye Tails. Bye knuckles." She blew the baby a little kiss. "Bye Hina." Amy left the two boys alone.

She put her jacket on and stepped outside, surprised at what beautiful weather was now blessing the sky. She sighed and walked slowly in the direction of the hospital. When she arrived, she walked straight to Sonic's room and opened the door. She screamed in horror at the sight that met her eyes.

On the floor beside the bed lay a white fox. The fur on the back of her head and upper back was matted and dyed red with blood. Amy felt faint. Her first instinct was to check on the fox. She dashed over and knelt down beside the body. She shuddered as she picked up a limp hand out of a pool of blood to check for a pulse, but none could be found. Amy tried to take a calming breath. The fox was dead.

Amy stood up and ran over to the bed, checking for a pulse on Sonic, who appeared unharmed but unconscious. She gave a shaky sigh of relief when she felt the steady beat on his wrist. She quickly pushed the nurse button on Sonic's bedside table. In a few moments, a nurse appeared, this time a red hedgehog, with a tray of lunch in her arms. When she saw the dead body on the floor, she shrieked, pointing at Amy,

"Oh my god! Murderer!" She dropped the tray and ran over to her colleague. "Lily? Lily!" Amy put a hand gently on her back.

"I don't know what happened. I just came to visit Sonic and I found her like this."

The nurse looked up, tears making her mascara run down her cheeks.

"Who would do this? She was the sweetest girl I'd ever met."

Amy held the nurse's hand to comfort her. The red hedgehog collapsed in tears into Amy's lap.

----------------------------------------------------

"MIIPROO!" Tails heard Hina from the living room. Apparently, she was awake. He entered the room to see grinning Hina. She clapped her hands and screamed again. Tails picked her up and walked to the doorway. Hina reached her little arms towards the light switch, curious.

Tails walked close enough for her to reach it, and when she flipped the switch off, she screamed like Tails had never heard her before. She squirmed and kicked until Tails switched the lights back on. Hina sniffed, still looking afraid. She clung tight onto Tails, snuggling into his fur.

"It's just the dark, Hina. Nothing to be scared of." He carried her into the kitchen and gave her a bottle. Suddenly it occurred to him that she had never been outside. When she finished her snack, he grabbed her out of the highchair and took her to the workshop.

Though she had no proper winter clothes, Tails wrapped a scarf around her neck and placed a hat on her head. She giggled and felt the clothes. Tails picked her up again and opened the door. Hina's smile disappeared and her eyes widened. She stared out, taking in the white snow and blue sky. In a second, her smile returned and she clapped her hands.

"Mipro!" She giggled, pointing to a tree.

"Tree, Hina, that's a tree."

"Twwwwww!" She laughed, squirming. Tails put her down. She pushed her hand into the snow, and quickly withdrew it with a yelp.

"Snow, Hina. It's cold." He went to pick her up but she cried in protest, poking the snow again. She began to dig through the blanket of snow until she reached a buried shrub. She cocked her head and dug deeper, until the top was visible. She put both hands on the freezing plant and giggled. The shrub twitched and grew, its leaves turning a rich green. The little plant shot up until it was taller than Hina. She laughed and clapped her hands.

Tails' jaw dropped.

* * *

**A/N:** Heehee I hope you liked this chapter, although it was one of my shorter ones!... A little darker than the previous ones, but I hope you don't mind. I'm going to be out of town until the 30th, so won't be able to upload chapter nine for a few days. Sorry. But you can spend those days thinking of kick-ass reviews :D!

P.S: REVIEW… you don't want me to write another poem, do you…. (Dramatic music)

--LA


	9. Chapter nine

**A/N:** Wow… nine chapters. I still can't believe it:D OWOW!!! I'm pretty happy… Thanks reviewers… and readers too. Thanks! Wow! I was busy photoshopping a picture for my friend's birthday… Oh…my…god dog fur is the hardest thing in the world to do x.x

--LA

* * *

I own no character in this story except my little Hina :D!

* * *

A pink face hovered above Sonic's head, appearing as only a blur. Sonic blinked and as the figure became clearer he recognized Amy's soft face looking concerned.

"Oh, Sonic!" She cried, sounding relieved. She threw herself onto him, hugging him tightly. Her eyes, already red and puffy from crying, began to fill with tears again, and her dress was damp with blood. Sonic shook his head, surprised how well he suddenly felt. He sat up and held Amy closer to him as she sobbed on his shoulder.

When he looked around, Sonic noticed a red hedgehog in a nurse outfit sitting on the couch, dabbing her eyes with a tissue, and four people stood over the fox's dead body, taking notes. Suddenly, he remembered everything that had happened that night. He tried to stand up, completely forgetting about the casts and was held down by Amy.

"Sonic." Amy sniffed "It was awful. Someone must have attacked her in the night! Did you see anything?"

Sonic nodded, but then shook his head when Amy looked inquisitively at him.

"You don't need to hear about it, Amy." The pink hedgehog looked hurt. "I mean it, you really don't want to know. Go and wait in the lobby for me, alright? I'm getting out today." He kissed her forehead tenderly and gave her a little push towards the door.

As she left the room, she turned around and gave him an affectionate look. Sonic was glad she understood. A few moments after she left, one of the men, a chameleon, talking around the nurse stepped out of the circle and walked towards Sonic.

"Did you say you saw what happened?" The chameleon, a police officer, asked, sounding suspicious.

Sonic nodded again, explaining to the officer what he had seen. The chameleon took some notes, asked Sonic a few unimportant questions, thanked him and turned back to his colleagues. The door opened and a doctor entered looking angry and flustered.

"I'm so sorry about this, sir." He said to Sonic, glaring at the policemen "I just need to give you a checkup and you'll be free to go home." He took a few tools out of the cabinet above the sink and used them in turn on his patient. Finally, after almost ten minutes of "Say ahh"'s and reflex testing, the doctor brought Sonic his chair and wheeled him into the lobby. Amy met him with a smile, though her eyes were still red.

"Hey, Amy." Sonic said, with an attempt at a smile. He despised being pushed around in a chair by a stranger. Amy smiled warmly at him, and took the chair from the doctor.

"Thank you so much for all your help." She said to him as they left the hospital.

"Amy, please let my push myself." Sonic said taking her hands off the back of the chair.

"Alright, if you really want to. But be careful, it's tricky pushing in the snow."

Sonic smiled at her gratefully and grabbed the wheels, finding her completely correct. The snow stuck to the wheels and made it extremely difficult to move. However, Sonic didn't have too much trouble. Amy accompanied Sonic home, only to find the front door engulfed in icy snow.

"Amy," Sonic said with a sigh "Can you go into the back and get my shovel?"

Amy raised an eyebrow.

"Are you joking? You're not digging through that pile of snow in your condition." Sonic tried to protest, but she hushed him. "You're coming with me."

Amy led him to her house, which was already neatly shoveled.

"I did that this morning. Come inside." She helped him up the front steps and inside. Her house, though fairly tiny, was neat and cozy, and laden with pink.

"It's really nice in here, Amy."

Amy beamed at him and opened the closet door, a mountain of fluffy blankets and pillows falling on her. Sonic rushed over as fast as he could in the chair to help her. He lifted a frilly pillow to reveal her laughing face.

"Thanks." She said, standing up. "Okay. I only have one bedroom, so you can sleep on my bed and I'll take the couch."

"Amy, no! You can have the bed. I really don't mind the couch."

Amy put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

"Not a chance. You're the one with the two legs in casts."

"But, Ames-"

"No! I insist. I'm sleeping on the couch."

Though Sonic tried to object, Amy looked at him tenderly, and began setting up the couch for her bed. She patted his cheek and pushed the chair into her bedroom. She showed him around the room, and said goodnight. As she turned to leave, Sonic grabbed her hand and tugged her back. He pulled her fragile body into his arms and kissed her

* * *

Rouge observed herself in the mirror. She turned to the side, and took in her profile, watching for flaws in her curves. She sighed, and walked into the bathroom of her apartment. 

She was about to undress, when she heard a knock on the door. She pulled the shoulder of her top back on, and went to get it. Through the peep-hole, she saw a red echidna. Rouge tried to calm her excitement, checking her hair and makeup in a mirror on the wall. She took a deep breath, flattened out the wrinkles on her outfit and opened the door.

"I'm sorry sweety, I already bought some girl guide cookies." Rouge smiled at the look on Knuckles' face.

"Rouge, I need you to identify this stone for me." He lifted a red gem from a paper bag at his feet. The bat eyed it, then its owner and said

"Come on in."

Knuckles followed her into the apartment, and to the kitchen where he placed the stone on the table and took a seat. Rouge sat across from him, grabbing the rock. She held it close to her eye and tried to scratch it with her fingernail.

"Goodness me, Knucky, I knew you were a rookie, but I assumed you would be able to recognize a simple ruby."

Knuckles' cheeks went red, but Rouge didn't notice. Of course he knew it was a ruby. He just felt that he needed to see her.

"Shame on you for making a lady answer the door so late. I was just about to clean my face."

Knuckles furrowed his brow.

"You know, I've never actually seen you without your makeup on."

Rouge laughed at him.

"Not many do, and live to tell the tale."

For a moment, Knuckles stared at the ceiling tiles.

"What if I make you a deal?"

Rouge looked intrigued.

"I'm listening…"

"You show me your face, and I'll give you every gem I dig up for a month."

The bat contemplated the deal for a moment, then said

"Alright."

She led him to her bedroom, telling him to wait on the bad, and then washed her face in the bathroom with warm water. Five minutes later, Rouge stood at the door to the bedroom.

"Well? Are you ready?"

"Yeah, what are you waiting for?"

"Okay. Here I come."

She entered the room, face clean and smooth. Knuckles gaped at her. Her eyelids were white as the rest of her fur, and she was without mascara or eyeliner, making her eyes appear much softer.

"You look..." Knuckles said. "Well thanks. Goodnight." He stood up and left Rouge alone. She was disappointed, having expected at least a compliment from the echidna. She sat on the bed with a sigh.

* * *

Dozens of roses, redder than any Tails had ever seen, budded on the rich green bush. Hina stroked one gently with a finger. Tails shook himself and looked at her in amazement. 

"H-How did you do that, Hina?" The baby giggled and clapped, dropping her jaw to mimic Tails. She started digging in the snow again, and found another plant, this time a wilted wild lupin, snapped at the stem. She put her hands on the break and looked proudly at Tails when its stem mended and the flower became a rich purple.

"You made them grow, Hina! How?"

"Gwwwww" Hina yelled, falling onto her back. She clapped her hands and snuggled into a pile of snow with a yawn. She closed her eyes and fell asleep beside the flower. Tails smiled at her.

"You never cease to amaze me." He carefully picked her up out of the snow and carried her inside.

* * *

**A/N: **That's right… a romantic chapter. I'm sorry that everyone got so uptight about the shrub thing in chapter eight 0.o. I really didn't mean to make it seem so important. Hope nobody minds… Thanks for reading, and remember to review… see that button on the bottom of the page… click the scrolly down thingy and push "submit review" :o! And write me an awesome review ;) Thanks! 

--LA


	10. Chapter ten

**A/N: **Hoorah! Send up the fireworks!!! TEN chapters! That makes Child's Play a… dec… decachapter story :D! Now, try not to be too mad, but since school starts like… yesterday 0.o I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update. Let's cross our fingers that my teachers are light on the homework.

* * *

I suppose since SEGA got rich off of Sonic, it could be smart for me to claim to own it… but I'm afraid they might use a magic potion to turn me into a kinkajou… and then like make me eat rancid asparagus… or something x.x Therefore, I _do not _own Sonic because I fear for my taste buds. But I do own HINA:D

* * *

Sonic awoke in the comfortable bed to the smell and sound of sizzling bacon and eggs. He heard Amy singing to herself from the kitchen of the small house. Still half asleep, he smiled and lay there for a few moments. After relaxing for a while, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to scratch his leg. Instead of satisfying the itch, however, his hand met only rock hard cast. He groaned and tried to stick his finger under the cast, but the gap between it and the skin was too small.

He lifted himself out of the bed and into the wheelchair, the itch on his leg still bothering him. The hedgehog wheeled himself into the bathroom and to the mirror. He grabbed a face cloth and wet it with cool water, feeling it trickle down his chest. As he looked him self over in the mirror, he let out a little yell. A split second later, Amy rushed into the bathroom looking afraid, first aid kit in hand.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" she said, eyes wide. "Oh! Your eyes!"

She pointed to Sonic's eyes. His pupils were contorted and no longer round, but a splatter shape that covered his irises and made his the usually small black dots look like broken eggs. There was nearly no green left in either eye.

"Yeah. I'm not sure what's up with them, but I can see fine."

"Thank goodness." Amy said, placing the first aid kit in the cabinet above the sink "I don't think we could make it to the hospital anyways."

Sonic gave her a puzzled look, and she pointed out the small window. The snow had returned with vengeance, and was falling so heavily that he couldn't see to the garden.

"No. I'm fine, there's no way we're walking in that."

"Well," Amy said, as Sonic dried his face on a soft facecloth "If you're sure you don't need to see the doctor."

"Don't worry, Ames. I'm fine."

"Alright… If you say so." She said with a weak smile "Then let's go have some breakfast."

She led Sonic out of the room and to the kitchen, where she served him scrambled eggs and bacon. The two hedgehogs had a seat at the table. As she chewed a bite of egg, she watched Sonic with a concerned look on her face.

"I still think we should do something about your eye. I think there must be something wrong with it…"

"Amy, I'm fine. It's probably just the aftermath of the painkillers they gave me."

Amy sighed and shook her head.

"But Sonic, look at your pupil! It's-"

"Relax. Just enjoy your breakfast. I'll be fine. I promise."

Amy sighed, but smiled at him in resolve.

"If you promise, than I trust you."

"Great." He grinned at her, and she smiled back, blushing. She stood up and stretched, saying casually,

"I'm going to go take a shower. Help yourself to anything you want." The pink hedgehog left the room, and Sonic sighed. Despite how cool he acted to Amy, he was truthfully quite alarmed about his distorted eyes. He felt certain that it had something to do with the ominous black cat.

He glared at the chair, feeling furious that he couldn't just find the cat and get rid of him. For a moment, he lost himself in the feeling of frustration and anguish of having to wait such a long time to feel the free feeling of running.

The storm outside still raged with full force, and Sonic was beginning to feel stir crazy, although it had been only a day. He went to scratch his leg again and moaned.

Fifteen minutes later, Amy returned with naught but a towel on. Sonic tried not to stare. The pink hedgehog grabbed a hair brush from a drawer and left. As her foot disappeared through the door, Sonic stared at the spot where she had been a moment ago. He sighed and scratched his ear, leaning back in the chair.

* * *

Knuckles sat alone beside the master emerald. His eyes were closed and he was deep in a daydream with his legs crossed. Images of Rouge's clean face glowed pearly white in his mind. Her teal eyes were gazing softly at something far away. She stood up and walked, looking as poised as ever, towards whatever it was, looking extremely content. Then, the red echidna entered the scene. He caught Rouge's attention, and she slowly turned to him, a sly look in her eye. 

A sudden gust of wind awoke Knuckles. He swore aloud and shivered; it was too cold to stay guard now. Besides, he thought to himself, who would try to steal anything in this weather.

He got up and trudged through the waist-deep snow. Although he initially planned to pay Rouge another visit, he decided to go and check on Tails and Hina. He arrived twenty minutes later and knocked on the door with numb hands. Tails answered the door a moment later looking tired.

To Knuckles' surprise, the workshop was overgrown with plants of all sizes, some scraping the ceiling.

Reading the curious look on the echidna's face, Tails explained.

"Hina's somehow learned to grow plants. I haven't been able to get her to stop… she seems to love it."

Knuckles laughed.

"Where is she anyways?"

Tails shrugged, but looked a bit concerned.

"Somewhere in this jungle. I moved all of the plants in my house into here. She just crawls off to any random plant… I've given up keeping track of her, but she's somewhere in here."

A potted plant sprouted up on the other side of the room and Tails craned his neck to see over the shorter ones.

"Ah. There she is."

He led Knuckles through the new forest. It seemed strange to see plants which were usually knee high brushing the ceiling. The two reached Hina after a minute of walking.

"Mipro!" She giggled making a fern grow over their heads.

"Hina! Come and have a snack."

Hina struggled when Tails tried to pick her up, but eventually gave in and let him scoop her up into his arms. They lightly discussed Sonic's situation until they reached the kitchen. Tails placed Hina in a highchair and grabbed her a bottle from the refrigerator.

"Can I get you anything, Knuckles?"

"That's alright. I was just wondering how things are going… that and I was loosing the feeling in my nose."

Tails chuckled.

"It's no problem. We like the company, don't we Hina."

The little girl giggled and dropped her bottle on the floor. Knuckles picked it up and handed it to her, but she dropped it again. He grabbed it and handed it to her, but she threw it down again. Knuckles looked annoyed. Tails laughed.

"I think she has a crush on you Knuckles." He said with a smile.

"Nun! Nun!" Hina yelled clapping and giggling.

Knuckles laughed and gave her the bottle off the floor, where she instantly chucked it again.

* * *

**A/N:** And so ends chapter ten ;) Sorry it's so short, but it was getting pretty late and I'm an insanely bad morning person. Thanks so much for reading! _(hmm… perhaps reverse psychology might make an impact on their reviewing decisions…)_ Hemhem… Do not review! I repeat do not! I hate reviews!... 0.o

Wait noo! I love them I was only joking! Please review :D! Thanks!

--LA


	11. Chapter eleven

**A/N:** OWOW! Chapter eleven everyone! I'm sorry I haven't updated for so long :(, but I've been busy with school stuff… and then I have soccer, piano, band and acting after school (not every day though). But my life is pretty hectic during the non-summer months… I'll try my best to write though!

--LA

* * *

You know how it goes. I do not own Sonic and all that jazz.

* * *

The water was still and comfortably warm. The tang floated silently past the pink coral and dark green weeds, listening carefully for any sign of movement. It heard barely audible rhythmic footsteps though it was not aware what they were. The fish froze and rolled its eyes around, trying to find the source of the disturbance. Then the noise stopped and the blue fish darted towards a sunken ship and a treasure chest, though it desperately saw them as only hiding spots.

Seconds before it reached its destination, it became frozen in the water, surrounded by a dark mist. It strained its eyes as they fluttered around the sockets. Slowly, it lifted out of the water and into frigid air, still engulfed in the darkness. It rose up feet over the water, gasping for breath. It met pale orange eyes and its gills flared and it tried to struggle in a last terrified attempt of escape. And then with the flash of white teeth, it was over for the tiny fish.

The black cat swallowed and eyed the tall fish tank, watching the many colourful tropical fish swimming among the plastic tank decorations. A gray mouse crouching in the nearest corner gasped, and scuttled closer.

"I think it's ready, Pella." A low, steady voice told her calmly. The cat looked at Pella and she was surrounded by pitch blackness. The cat heard her squeal in fright and excitement. She was lifted slowly into the air, and then gradually back to the floor where she landed on her tiny, shoeless feet.

"Malam!" she said breathlessly, looking up at him with wide eyes. Malam turned around to face the ceiling-high aquarium on the wall.

"Complete black. You see, Pella?" He grinned wickedly "The colour black draws in light, it absorbs it. But that's unconcentrated black. Darkness has never met its full potential."

He lifted another struggling fish from the water, and handed it to the mouse. She scowled at it, disliking fish.

"I don't understand why we live off those damn fish. I want something new, or at least cooked."

"Shut up. Those fish are all we've got, so be grateful for them."

Pella frowned, but silently swallowed the fish without chewing.

"You only got that meal because of concentrated darkness. Complete black. This dark is so pure, so strong, can draw in not only light, but solid objects."

Malam turned on his heel and strode toward a tall computer. He typed in a code, and a door opened on the stone wall letting bright sunlight pour into the cave. Both cat and mouse cringed, and Malam quickly made a shield which looked like and shared the purpose of a round tinted window. In annoyance, he lifted it with his mind high into the sky so it cast a huge, circular shadow a few meters around them.

Pella sighed in relief and stepped outside, still shielded by the disc. Malam briskly walked in front of her and led her onto a rocky hill laden with dead grass and weeds.

"You see that tree?" He said, pointing to one of the only scraggly trees in the barren landscape. Pella nodded and looked at him intently. For a moment, Malam had a concentrated, determined look on his face, then he winced slightly as the tree was pulled from the ground surrounded by the darkness. It lifted high into the sky until it was out of sight.

"What are-" Pella began, but Malam hushed her. A few seconds later, the tree came plummeting to the infertile ground from miles up, no longer dark. An instant before it smashed into the rocks, the darkness returned around it and it was instantly stopped mid air. Next, Malam sent it hurtling into the mountains. Pella's jaw dropped.

"Do you understand how powerful this power is, Pella?"

She nodded, still looking in disbelief at where the tree landed in the distant mountains.

"I think so…" She hesitated "But what's it for?"

Malam laughed.

"We could do anything we want with this. That's how much power we have now."

"But I still-"

"Forget about it. Let's go home… this light it giving me a headache."

Pella shrugged, still looking puzzled, and followed him back to the mountainside cave.

* * *

Tails brushed metal shreds off his hands and regarded his work proudly. Before him, there was a rich blue wheelchair, with friction-proof wheels and rockets attached to the back. It even had a seat belt, though he doubted that Sonic would wear it. He left the tiny area of his workshop not infested with giant potted plants.

"Hina! Knuckles!" he called, pushing a fern out of his face. The echidna seemed to have taken to Hina quite well, and assumed the place of babysitter while Tails worked.

"Mipro!" Hina cried, crawling to him from beneath a rose bush. Knuckles arrived a moment later behind her, smiling. Tails picked up the little girl and poked her nose. She giggled and grabbed his index finger in her hand.

"You can't make Mipro grow, Hina." Knuckles said with a laugh.

"Nunn!" She laughed, reaching for the echidna. Tails handed her over with a grin. Knuckles threw her into the air and caught her, but she yelped and began to cry, nuzzling into his chest.

"What?" He said, confused. "I thought babies liked that."

Tails shrugged, and heard the doorbell ring. He sighed, and slowly made his way back through the thick jungle. When he reached the door, he met Sonic and Amy.

"Oh! Come in!" He said, excited to hear about everything, and show Sonic his new chair. They both said hello, and entered. The snow and wind outside had slowed, and visibility was much better.

"Woah! What happened in here, Tails? I thought it was a workshop, not a greenhouse." Sonic said, grinning at his friend.

Tails laughed.

"It's Hina. She's learned to grow plants."

Amy looked curious.

"I'll leave you two boys to talk… I want to go find Hina." She left, trudging into the brush.

Tails let out a cry when he saw Sonic's eyes.

"Sonic your-"

"I know. Don't worry about them. I feel fine." He insisted, though it was a lie. In truth, he was beginning to feel slightly light headed and the corners of his vision were blurred and dark. Tails sighed, but smiled.

"If you say so…" Then, he remembered the chair and his smile grew. "Come with me! I've got to show you something."

Sonic smiled, trying to imagine what Tails was so excited about. The kitsune led the way through the giant plants, holding the limbs out of the way for Sonic. They reached a tiny clearing in one corner of the massive room. Sonic saw the wheelchair, and realized what was going on.

Tails looked at him, smiling proudly. Sonic beamed back.

"Tails, it's great. I…" he looked down at his first chair and remembered the fox nurse. "I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" asked Tails, his smile fading.

"The nurse who died made this one for me. She only died because she was in charge of taking care of me. I think the least I can do is use it."

This was, however, only half the reason. Sonic also felt that taking this chair with rockets would be giving up. He felt that he needed to last the month left to prove to himself that he was more than just speed.

Tails looked at his feet. Though he understood, he still fought to hold back tears. He had worked hours welding and painting the chair, and couldn't help feeling disappointed that it would not go to use.

"That's alright." He said, his voice high. Though Sonic felt bad for making his friend so upset, he thought Tails would like it better if he pretended not to notice.

"Tell you what," Sonic said "Why don't we bring it by the hospital tomorrow? I'm sure someone else needs it more than me."

Tails smiled at him.

"That sounds good." He said, as Sonic ruffled his bangs.

"That's my bud."

* * *

**A/N: **hoorah! There you have it. Enjoy! I'm going to a wedding in Vancouver on Thursday, and I'll be gone until Monday. So unless I have time to write from Sunday to Wednesday, there aren't gonna be any updates for a bit. And remember to review please :)!

--LA


	12. Chapter twelve

**A/N:** Well… I was wrong about that time estimate of this chapter. I'm writing this at about 11:oo… so I'm gonna try not to fall asleep halfway through. Okay… I'm thinking only one or two chapters left, after this, so it's almost over (sniff)!! My goal is 50 reviews by the end, and I'd love some help with that… Thank you for reading!

--LA

P.S: Malam is pronounced May-lum :) just so you know.

* * *

Last night I had a dream that I owned Sonic… then I got attacked by Dobermans 0.o….. Then I was hugging George-Michael from Arrested development (which I don't own either, but is one of my favourite shows for sure xD)… although that part's kind of irrelevant. The point of this disclaimer is that I do not own Sonic.

* * *

The television's reception flickered until the screen showed only a black-and-white mass which reminded Rouge of a swarm of monochromatic bees. She shut it off with a sigh.

"That's her." Whispered Pella, crouched in a tall, snowy fir tree and peeking through the apartment window. Malam looked up at her from the base of the tree.

"You're sure? If we get the wrong one you'll be replacing the fish."

The mouse gulped and nodded.

"I'm sure. I saw her with the red one a few nights ago."

"And you're sure he likes her?"

"Positive! I could tell by the look on his face… but he's too shy to tell her."

The cat furrowed his brow.

"How can you tell just from his face?" He said in frustration. It was crucial that this was the right person.

"Girls can tell these things." Pella said, rolling her indigo eyes. "So are we going to get her? We're lucky the snow stopped."

Malam didn't answer for a moment, but then nodded.

"Let's go."

He shot up the tree without a sound and landed on the branch beside the mouse. He pushed a finger on his lips to silence her, then quietly walked along the tree limb with perfect balance. When he reached the tip of the branch, he skilfully leapt to the windowsill.

Pella followed, but not nearly as gracefully.

"Ready?" Malam said in a barely audible whisper. Pella nodded, looking determined. The cat held up his hands and counted down on them from ten, mouthing the numbers. When he reached seven, a heavy stone lifted in a black mist parallel to their heads. At four, it slowly backed away from the window until it was almost at the tree. When the cat put down the final finger, the rock sped through the air gaining momentum until it hit the window, smashing it on impact.

The cat and mouse jumped into the apartment. Rouge screamed and threw the remote at the intruders. A black web surrounded it, and it reversed directions. It struck the bat's head with such force that she was knocked unconscious.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." Malam said. More darkness engulfed Rouge's limp body and she lifted into the air and out the window, followed by her captors.

* * *

"Well," Amy said with a yawn, Hina asleep on her lap. "We should go, Sonic."

Everyone was drowsy from a full day, and Knuckles had left hours ago. Sonic did not hear her at first because he was concentrating on not wincing from the growing pain in his eyes. His vision had become even worse, and he had lost all peripheral vision to blackness.

"Sonic?" She said clapping her hands. This woke Hina, and snapped the blue hedgehog out of his trance.

"Err, yeah." He said, shaking his head. Hina yawned, and slid off of Amy's lap, crawling over to Tails.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Time for bed?" he said, lifting her onto his lap. She yawned and nuzzled into his chest.

"I take that as a yes." Amy said with a laugh.

"I think we're both going to bed." Tails said, rubbing his eyes and blinking.

"Night, Tails." Sonic said, trying not to show his symptoms. Everyone said their goodnights, and the two hedgehogs left.

Tails gently placed the sleepy baby in her crib.

"Are you ready to try sleeping without your nightlight?" he asked, though she was sound asleep. Watching her, he clicked the little light off so there was darkness. Instantly, Hina opened her eyes and began to scream and bawl. After a second, the gem on her chest began to glow warmly, and the baby was comforted. Tails flicked the light back on, and she hushed. Apparently, she had not outgrown her phobia of darkness.

"Alright… so you're still afraid. But what did you do there? You made light."

Hina giggled drowsily, pointed to her chest and fell back asleep, the rock still emitting a faint glow. Extremely slowly, Tails shut the nightlight back off, bracing himself for Hina's cries. They, however, didn't come. The rock began to glow stronger, until it was brighter than the nightlight.

"Well," He said in surprise, "I guess you don't need this any more." and tossed the light into a drawer on his bedside table. He hopped onto the bed with a yawn and snuggled under the many comforters until he dropped off to sleep.

* * *

Rouge opened a drowsy eye, a bruised lump on her forehead aching. She groaned and stood up, but her head bumped something hard above her. She rubbed the spot it hit and sat back down. The ground felt dirty and damp, but it was too dark to see anything. In fact, it was so pitch black that Rouge couldn't tell where she was, even with her bat eyes adapted for darkness.

She crawled along the grimy floor until she bumped into what was apparently a wall. The wall, however, had a strange feeling to it. It didn't feel quite hard enough to be made of regular building materials, and seemed almost slightly spongy. She followed the wall until she hit another, then paused.

"She's awake, Malam." whispered a female voice from outside the walls. All of a sudden, the darkness lifted, and Rouge realized that she was sitting in a dark cave. She saw two other people in the room; a cat and a mouse.

"Don't move." The cat growled, pointing to her. The bat was terrified. There was something about his fur, his pale eyes, that scared her. She took a shallow breath, her head still aching.

"What's going on?" She asked, feeling slightly proud of how confident she managed to make her voice sound.

The cat grinned at her.

"You, my dear, are bait."

Rouge looked indignantly at him and eyed the fish tank.

"Bait? Couldn't you just get worms for that?"

The mouse suppressed a giggle, and Malam shot her a nasty look.

"Not for the fish. For your redhead friend… the others too."

'_Knuckles!'_ Rouge thought in distress, trying not to show her fear.

"Is that so? And why do you want him near you? His temper is a threat to himself and others."

The mouse rolled her eyes.

"I know you like him. It's not that hard to tell, since you're not exactly secrete about it."

"Hush, Pella." The cat said sternly. "Now come on. We've got to go show off our new friend."

Suddenly the darkness returned around Rouge, but this time not as walls, but as a cocoon tight around her body. It was hard to breath, and her elbow was stuck in an awkward position. She felt herself raising up, though she couldn't tell how fast or high.

"No one could miss that." Pella said, eyeing the slender silhouette in front of the moon which cast a shapely shadow.

"Let's just hope the echidna is chivalrous enough to come save his fair maiden."

"What about the hedgehog, Malam? Won't he try to-"

"Oh, don't worry about him." The cat said with a wicked grin "I took care of him. In fact, it should be setting in any moment now…"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry about this chapter. I know it's not written too well, and it's split into like fifty parts, not to mention short… but I did it last night and I was tired, so cut me some slack. Since there are only a few chapters to go, please put your heart and soul into your reviews :3 .!

--LA


	13. Chapter thirteen

**A/N:** Uh oh… unlucky number thirteen :o! Well, let's hope it's a good chapter and get our four leafed clovers and rabbit's feet ready (cream runs away). Damn black cat (Malam) had better not mess up one of the last chapters… growl…

* * *

No obscure dream descriptions this time, I promise. Make it nice and simple…. The only characters I own in this story are Hina, Malam and Pella, the three of whom are MY BABIES!

* * *

The pain in his head was becoming consuming. Sonic's eyes head screamed and he had recently lost the colour in the bit of his eyes which were not completely dark. Though his vision was growing steadily worse, he could still hear Amy's gentle breathing from the living room. He sat at the kitchen table wide awake, and felt momentarily happy that Amy wasn't aware of his suffering. 

He sighed and wheeled over to the couch, squinting at the floor so he didn't run over anything. When he felt his leg touch hit the coffee table, he looked down and felt around with his hand until he sensed the soft warmth of Amy's cheek. Certain she was sound asleep, he stroked her forehead and looked at her slumbering face, now only a grey smudge.

And then, suddenly, his entire plane of vision blacked out. His body seized up and he fell onto the sleeping hedgehog, body stiff as a board. A moment later, he heard Amy giggle, though he couldn't move, see or speak.

"Sonic, get off. I'm tired." She tried to push him off, but soon realized something was wrong.

"Sonic?" She asked, now dropping her playful tone and sounding alarmed. She then screamed, and squirmed from below him, and he dropped onto the couch. He heard a light click on, though he couldn't see any change in brightness; only total blackness. Then, there was another scream, and he could feel Amy's hands on his cheeks.

"Sonic! Wake up!" He felt a tear fall onto his forehead, and yearned to hold and comfort her, but his limbs didn't respond. Breathing shakily, Amy took a deep breath.

"I'm going to get help, okay? Stay with me?" She kissed his forehead and he heard her footsteps fading away. Then everything was silent again. Sonic tried to look around, but there was only black. It was like being trapped in his own mind; he couldn't even make his mind's eye picture Amy's comforting face, only more black, and flashes of pale orange eyes. It was torture to have all of his senses but sight, and not be able to move his body.

Even though his eyes weren't working, he realized that they were open, and unable to blink. They began to burn, but he pushed the pain out of his mind, trying to concentrate on his other four senses; to hear Amy's returning footsteps, her sweet smell and soft fur.

Minutes passed, and Sonic began to feel more and more apprehensive. He became extremely aware of the ticking clock, and estimated that Amy had been gone for nearly half an hour. Suddenly, Sonic realized that he wasn't breathing. Instinctively, he panicked, but calmed himself and reasoned that he couldn't survive this long without oxygen, so he must be breathing somehow. After a moment, he became aware of his own faint heartbeat, only beating every few seconds or so.

He mentally sighed with relief as the sound of two sets of footsteps echoed into the room, following a BANG.

'_Amy?' _He tried to ask, forgetting about his frozen mouth.

"There he is." Whispered an unfamiliar voice. Sonic was confused and slightly afraid, as he didn't like being completely immobilized so close to stranger he couldn't see.

"I told you I took care of him." Came another voice, deeper and more ominous than the last. Neither was Amy.

* * *

"Knuckles!" Amy cried, sprinting up the stairs of the shrine. The echidna met her at the top looking dazed and half-asleep. 

"Wasgoinon?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"It's Sonic." Amy gasped, out of breath and exhausted from running. She grabbed Knuckle's hand and dragged him down the steps. At the bottom, Knuckles pulled his hand back and grabbed Amy's shoulders.

"Breathe, Amy. Where's the fire?"

Amy glared at him.

"Please, something's really wrong with Sonic!" she pleaded, eyes wide and afraid. Knuckles could tell by the tone of horror in her voice that there really was something wrong, and decided to go with her without another question, though he was grumpy from being awoken so early.

The two reached Amy's house twenty minutes later to find the door knocked off its hinges. Amy screamed and dashed inside, finding the house empty. Knuckles hovered in the doorway looking concerned but confused.

"He's gone." Amy said, sounding defeated "Something happened to him." Her eyes brimmed with tears and she turned away from Knuckles.

The echidna wasn't sure what to say, so he patted her on the back awkwardly.

"Look, Amy. This is Sonic! He's gotten out of tighter squeezes than being kidnapped."

Amy looked at him, eyes glassy.

"This time was different. He couldn't fight, I don't think he could even move. And his eyes-" She took a raspy breath "Were just… black. And empty."

"We'll find him." Knuckles said in the kindest, softest voice he could muster, "And I'll help you."

Amy gave him an appreciative smile and wiped her eyes.

"You're right. Let's go." Without a pause, she pushed past Knuckles and out the door. He quickly followed behind her, uncertain about his skills of comforting women. He cursed their hormones and rolled his eyes to the sky. He let out a surprised gasp. Silhouetted against the full moon was the figure of a bat.

"Rouge?" He muttered, confused.

"What was that?" Amy asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Look." Knuckles pointed a finger to the sky. Amy squinted and followed his gaze.

"That looks like Rouge." She said, puzzled.

"Amy, you keep going on. I'm going to check this out…" he breathed, trying to hide his attraction to the black figure. In truth, he wanted to get a closer look at the strange girl on the moon.

Amy nodded and continued walking at a brisk pace. Knuckles stopped and turned around, running towards the tallest thing in sight; a maple tree hundreds of years old, which was a popular tourist attraction. He ran to it and climbed up, trying not to leave punch marks in the ancient bark. Passing several birds' nests, he reached the swaying top and stood on the tip.

Scanning the cloudy sky, he found the moon. Though the silhouette was much clearer now, he still wanted to get a better look. As he pondered how to get closer, he was shocked to see the figure suddenly drop. He yelled in surprise and jumped from his high perch. He landed and ran as fast as he was able, keeping both eyes on the plummeting bat.

She was getting so close to the earth so fast. Knuckles began to panic, and dove. He caught her figure in his arms and rolled, holding her tight to his chest. When they stopped, he took heaving breaths and looked down at Rouge.

"What the-" he began to say, furrowing his brow. He tried to pull away, but found the webbing encasing her was twining itself around his arms, attaching him to the black cocoon. He fought with all his power, but the black net entwined up his forearms and to his shoulders, pulling him ever closer to Rouge's immobilized body. He yelled and tried to punch and kick at the black substance, but was spun closer as it made its way up his back and torso.

In an instant, only his face remained uncovered. But, the black web soon edged onto his face and blocked out his eyes, leaving only blackness. For nearly an hour, he lay on Rouge's cocooned body, wondering if she was conscious. He felt extremely helpless that he couldn't help her escape the black prison. For what felt like hours, they lay immobilized. Then suddenly, he heard muffled footsteps.

"I told you he liked her." Knuckles heard a smug voice coming from a few feet away.

"Nice job. That means the baby's got no one to protect her but that sidekick."

"The fox? He's only a baby himself. We don't have to worry about him."

"Alright. You were right about the last two… let's go for three out of three."

"Where do you want to leave the hedgehog?"

"I'll just drop it here, with the other two."

Knuckles heard a dull thud, and tried to wince, but the net was so tight to his body that he couldn't move even his face. Hedgehog? He wondered if it was Sonic. Or perhaps Amy. He felt a stab of guilt; if it was Amy, he had abandoned her to see Rouge when he could have stayed and helped her fight these strangers off.

"Come on. Let's go, the sun'll be rising in a few hours."

Pella and Malam left the three bodies stiff on the snow and set off towards the fox's house.

"And you're sure he's the one who has it?" Malam asked.

"Yeah. I've watched him with the baby… but I've got no idea how he ended up with it in the first place though."

Malam nodded and they walked in silence for a while.

"So how are we going to do it?" Pella inquired, sounding nervous.

"Well, first we have to get in." He whispered as they reached the tall door of the house.

"How do we do that? This door looks pretty heavy duty."

Malam rolled his eyes.

"You're joking." A tendril of darkness shot strait through the wall, and pressed a button to open the door. They snuck into the huge room and were met by an obnoxious grapefruit plant.

"Wow." Pella said, in surprise "Can you say extreme gardener?"

"Shh!" Malam hissed, pinching the mouse's lips together. The two silently slipped into the indoor jungle.

* * *

**A/N:** ooh the drama 0.o! I'm pretty excited! This one was actually pretty fun to write ;). I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much… no wait, more. I'm at forty-two reviews already…. But that means I need eight more before the end. CAN YOU GUYS DO IT!?!?! I'm crossing my finger ;) 

--LA


	14. Chapter forteen

**A/N: **Alright… I admit I'm really bad with estimating the number of chapters x.x. But I'm almost sure that there will be ONE MORE, two max. I currently have forty-five reviews… That means that, to reach my goal, I need five more. I've got my fingers crossed :D! Actually, I was pretty sad that I went to a wedding in Victoria for five days, expecting to come back to at least a couple of reviews, and came back to none. Don't get me wrong, I got three awesome reviews before I left (thanks to the three of you), but I was sad to see my mailbox empty of everything but JUNK xP. Ahh well. You're forgiven… you naughty, wicked little people. Only kidding. You know I love you guys!!

--LA

* * *

Hemhem… since this is almost the last disclaimer I will have the pleasure of writing (in this story), I'm gonna make it simple… I don't not own any of the characters in my story except for Hina, Malam and Pella. However, feel free to pelt the last two with obscure pointy things. They only need to survive for one or two more chapters, after all.

* * *

The bat strained and fought every time the wind shifted or something in the environment changed. Although her eyes were pinned shut, Rouge's acute senses of hearing told her that, throughout the last two hours, another unfortunate person had been trapped beside her in the black substance, which was both spongy and rock hard. In fact, this other figure was strung so close to her, it pressed onto her body with a pressure that was almost painful. She knew the other person was in the same situation as her because of the sickening crawling sound the dark stuff made when growing.

She wished that she could speak, to ask the identity of the one who shared her predicament. However, she could neither open her mouth nor get his or attention in any other way. She was almost certain he was male because of something he had muttered before joining her in her prison. She was afraid, and beginning to feel claustrophobic from being cramped in such a small spot.

She could feel her elbow pulse painfully each time blood pumped through the veins, and the pain was steadily growing because the other person was pushing up against it. To comfort herself, she imagined that she was pressing her body against Knuckles'. In her mind, he held her close and tight to his body. Their eyes met. His, usually so hard and impenetrable, softened and a tender smile graced his face. Her face was snowy white and free of cosmetics, her teal eyes gazed at him free of everything else in the world.

That perfect moment of bliss, however, was short lived. Soon, Rouge's daydream came crashing down as she returned to full consciousness. She immediately became aware of the crisp sound of footsteps on snow.

"Eww!" A shrill voice squealed. The bat recognized it as Cream. "What is that, mother?"

"I'm really not certain." Vanilla's voice answered. "Please come along. It could be dangerous."

"Just another moment, please mother. It looks so familiar."

"Well, alright. But please don't touch it."

There was silence for a moment, then Cream gasped.

"It looks like a statue of Miss Rouge and Mr. Knuckles, but it's fallen over!"

"I think you're right." said the mother rabbit thoughtfully. Rouge felt something on the shoulder which was not tightly entwined to the other person… Knuckles? Could the figure stuck weak and immobilized beside her truly be the echidna she admired so? She simply couldn't imagine him being completely overpowered. It made her feel shaken and confused that the one who had saved her from death's cold arms could be conquered. He had always seemed so strong and brave…

She then remembered the incredible binding strength of the web around her, even though she hadn't had a proper chance to fight it, and felt reassured that, perhaps, Knuckles had put up an amazing, inspiring battle trying to fight off what trapped his love. Her heart skipped a beat when she materialized herself as "his love". Even if this was not the case, she felt warm and safe imagining that it was so.

And then there was an earsplitting scream, followed by a second, louder one.

"Mother! What's going on?" came Cream's panicked voice from close to Rouge's face.

Vanilla rushed to her daughter's side and tried to pull away. The bat heard Cream's breathing quicken as she sobbed.

"Cream? Cream! Honey, stay with me." Vanilla's usually calm and resigned voice sounded frightened and she was taking deep, shaky breaths. Rouge felt nauseous; it was her instinct to try and help the two rabbits, but, of course, she couldn't do anything to aid the struggling mother and daughter.

She heard a final shriek from Vanilla, and then it was silent again. The bat felt horrible for Cream; the poor bunny was certainly petrified. Of the four captives, she was the only child. This was, of course, not including the unfortunate hedgehog dropped to the ground who had gone unnamed by their captors, but Rouge had nearly forgotten about him. And so, the four immobilized figures entwined tightly together sat, slowly sinking into the powdery snow below them.

* * *

A branch snapped, and the two trespassing figures froze in their spots. Malam smacked the mouse with a hiss.

Pella mouthed an apology and they continued to trudge through the dense jungle of potted plants. Both the slender mouse and the cat were carefully watching the ground for more sticks or roots. Malam pointed a finger towards a door, and slunk through it. Pella followed, cautiously peeking through the doorway. The cat led her into what was evidently a modern kitchen.

Streams of black just visible in contrast to the general darkness made their way through the room, opening drawers and cupboards. Malam casually observed the contents, keeping an eye out for anything which could be helpful in their undertaking. Finding nothing more useful than a few butter knives, he silently returned the objects to their original places.

He then turned to Pella and nodded his head towards a second doorway leading into a hallway. They slid through the doorframe and quietly opened every door they came to; first was a bathroom, then a living room through which they could see another door leading back into the garden room. The third door, however, showed them exactly what they wanted. Malam slunk inside and skillfully crawled below the bed frame, and just out of sight of its sleeping inhabitant should he wake up.

The cat assumed that this was the fox Pella had told him about. He could see his goal clearly asleep in a crib at the other end of the room. When he was about a meter from the baby's bed, he got to his feet and peeked in. The infant girl's eyes were closed tightly, and the stone which was so important was mounted on her tiny chest. Malam glared at her. How had this insignificant child ended up with such a valuable part of their plans? It was required to be destroyed. If anyone old, strong, or intelligent enough to use it managed to get their hands on it, everything would be ruined.

Malam shot a stream of darkness around her tiny form, wondering with a stab of annoyance why he hadn't simply grabbed her from the door. His though was interrupted by the baby screaming. The cat winced and snapped his head in the direction of the bed, where he saw the fox sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Alright, alright. Hush, Hina. I'm coming." His voice was thick and tired, but Malam was surprised how young it sounded; certainly no more than ten years. The cat roughly recalled his arms and slunk under the bed. He saw Pella slip back into the hall just before two bare, yellow-orange feet dropped near his face. The baby was still crying as Malam watched the fox shuffle towards the crib.

"What's wrong now?" He asked her with a cavernous yawn.

"Wait for it…" Malam whispered under his breath, waiting for the fox to enter a spot where he could see him clearly.

"What is it? Everything's alright." The baby continued to whimper and pointed a short finger towards the bed. "What are you pointing at? That's just the bed."

This was the ideal moment. Malam sprung out and the fox was engulfed in a black net, roughly dropping the little baby back into the crib. She began to scream in protest and banged her hands, clenched in tight fists on the railing. Malam sent a second beam of black to wrap itself around her, but the gem on her top lit up brighter until it was blinding. The crying halted, and the light disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Malam blinked as Pella dashed into the room, his eyes aching.

"What was that?" She cried, pushing the stiff body of the fox to the wall. The cat tried to blink away the purple and orange splotching his eyes. They slowly faded away and he scowled.

"You tell me. That stupid baby does know the basics of using the rock." He rubbed his eyes and glared at the crib, only to see it empty.

"WHERE IS SHE?" He exclaimed, grabbing Pella's forearm in an iron grip.

"Ow! I didn't see… She's just a baby, how far could she go?"

The cat released her arm and scanned the room. His ears perked up suddenly when he saw a misty white-blue cloud hovering in a corner. Atop it sat the baby, a look of terror in her electric blue eyes.

"There." He approached quickly, cornering her. "Get by the door, Pella."

The mouse intently obeyed the command and stepped in front of the door, blocking any unlikely escape. The little girl whimpered, eyeing the fox's black silhouette lying in an awkward position on the floor. She shut her eyes tight and the mist rose into the air until her sea green hair brushed the ceiling. She opened an eye and looked around, looking proud of herself.

Choppily at first, the cloud moved across the room, keeping one hand on the wall for support. When she reached the doorway, where the ceiling went down nearly a foot, she dropped nearly to the floor, but quickly caught herself and pulled back up, zooming out into the hallway at a considerable pace.

"Why didn't you catch her?" Malam cried, pushing past Pella in pursuit of their escaped captive. He chased after her, following the trail of evaporating mist it left behind for a few seconds. It led him into the indoor jungle, then flew vertically until reaching the ceiling and above the trees.

Malam cursed and dove into the forest, keeping an eye on the sky. The baby and her cloud were nowhere to be seen.

"Malam? Where did she go?" Pella asked, jogging up behind him.

"She's somewhere in here. Go shut all of the doors, then come find me."

The mouse nodded and ran back in the direction she had come. The room was so large that after a moment, Malam could no longer hear her padding footsteps. He strained his ears for the tiniest sound, ready to pounce. He looked around, trying to find a tree with a trunk thick enough to support his weight. Around him, he saw only ferns and massive flowers but as he trudges deeper, he found an abnormally huge, fruitless grapefruit tree with thorns longer than his forearm.

He took a breath and let his ebony claws out of the skin between his fingers, then slipped of his shoes and did the same with his toes. He shook his limbs and backed away from the tree, eyeing the topmost branches. After a moment's metal preparation, he bolted towards the tree, scaling it with dexterous skill.

At the top, he scanned the corners of the gigantic room. Grateful that his climb was not in vain, he saw the bright mist through the other tall plants which reached the tall ceiling.

"Do you see her?" Pella called from the base of the tree.

"Over there." Malam said, pointing clearly to the corner where their target floated. Retracting his claws again, the cat jumped to the ground landing gracefully on his feet.

"Let's go. She's not getting away this time." He said, a cold look in his eyes which made them look extremely ominous and sinister. He marched in a precisely straight line to get to the objective as quickly as possible. If she had already learned to fly with the stone, she was cleverer than one would expect someone of her age to be. Who could know how long it would take her to learn to command its other powers, if she hadn't already. In moments, they reached the corner where she hid. Squinting up above their heads, they could see her through the semi-transparency of the mist.

"Can you get up the tree?" Malam asked suddenly. Pella looked concerned as she eyed the intimidating height of the plants surrounding them. She frowned.

"I doubt it…"

The cat rolled his eyes and flicked his wrist, lifting Pella on a cloud like the baby's, only black. He conjured a matching one for himself and lifted them both up to just below the icy blue one. Their eyes met, and Malam mouthed "_are you ready?_"

Pella nodded, and they slowly rose until their heads were inches below the light mist.

"Go."

They shot up and cornered the tiny child. She was surprised, and let out a scream of terror, letting her guard down and losing control of the levitating cloud. It vaporized into nothing, and she fell towards the hard, tile floor.

Malam swore loudly, and followed the dropping baby. If the gem was destroyed improperly, he knew the least it would do would be to emit a blinding light too bright for any eyes to withstand, especially his sensitive ones. And this was the bare minimum of what it an improper fracture or crack would induce.

To his great relief, the baby caught herself with an even brighter cloud and zoomed through the foliage. She was becoming more confident in her abilities. The cat, who was controlling Pella's cloud, brought her level to him.

"We need to get it off her fast." He said, referring to the blue stone.

"What do you want me to do?" Pella asked, looking devotedly at her leader.

"I'm going to send you around the front door to make sure she doesn't get out. Can you promise me you won't let her escape?"

The mouse nodded, a determined look on her face.

"I trust you."

"Good."

He shot her along the wall to the large garage style doors and followed the flying baby into the flora. After a few moments of aimless gliding, he caught a glance of the glistening cloud trail as it headed towards the main door. Malam swore again and sped up to follow her. He arrived at the door and saw wide-eyed Pella watching the misty cloud in concentration. Obeying his first instinct, Malam sent her cloud flying at breakneck speed in the direction of the valuable baby who was hovering by a metallic table.

It happened too fast for him to fix his mistake. The baby stealthily floated higher, dodging the shooting mouse. Pella let out a blood freezing scream as she crashed into the table with a sickening crack. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if she had crashed with her legs or torso, but it was her neck that made painful contact. Everything below the shoulders flew forward and her forehead banged on the table as her body pivoted on the neck.

The baby froze; looking at her age, this was likely her first encounter with blood. And there was much blood.

Malam was blind with rage. He flung himself at the mesmerized child and caught her when her attention was on the mouse who lay still on the white tile with pools of crimson forming around her.

The cat wrestled the baby to the ground with ease, not fully aware of his furious actions. With a livid roar, he snapped a thick spine off of another grapefruit tree with horrendous strength. The baby was screaming again, but he was unaware as his ears were not functioning properly; he just kept hearing an echo of Pella's last devoted words _'I trust you", "I trust you"_… The thorn was impressively thick and covered with a leathery skin barbed at the tip.

His mind was not working correctly. With a cry of fury, he stabbed the spine into the baby. It didn't give the satisfying feeling he had imagined. Instantly, the room filled with a blinding light, then all was dark.

* * *

**A/N:** WOOWOO:D This one is the longest yet by far. I really hope you liked it, and I'm sorry it took such a long time to update :). I'm now sure there will only be one more chapter… and the update should be coming soon (cross your fingers)!! Thanks so much for reading, and please review!

--LA


	15. Chapter fifteen

**A/N:** …sniff… I honestly can't believe this is the LAST chapter! I would like to say thank you to every single one of you who read this far, and I insist on paying for the clothes pins which I'm sure you needed to hold your eyes open and not fall asleep. Ahh well. A super extra special thanks to every one who reviewed throughout the entire story. You guys seriously kept me going :D!

* * *

Sniff… I d-don't own… (Falls of the floor with almost walrus-out-of-water grace, crying until the water is knee deep and angler fish have begun to inhabit it)

* * *

An icy wind blew through the sky, now a pale orange. The sun was rising, visible as only a silver sliver on the eastern horizon. Amy shivered and yawned, the freezing air stinging her lungs. She looked around, still in a sleepy daze. The thick pine tree sheltering her shuddered and dropped a shower of needles onto her head. She sat up, feeling fatigued and completely drained despite having a nap, and regretted choosing this spot to rest the previous night. With a sigh, she stood up and stretched so her hands brushed the tree. Her numb toes tingled as she wiggled them around in her boots.

Hours of searching for Sonic's capturers in vain had left her feeling uncharacteristically pessimistic. The hedgehog scratched her ear and walked along her footsteps from the night's hike, which were still visible as rounded dents in the powdery snow. She decided to return home to regroup, and perhaps find Knuckles again. It was lonely trudging through the deep snow without company.

After nearly and hour of marching, Amy reached an unusually shaped mangled, black tree stump, lying uncovered on the snow. She frowned, net remembering this strange formation. After a moment of observing, she shook her head and briskly continued along her path. She suddenly halted, and slipped on the loose snow, landing beside a still, blue hedgehog laying stiff as a board on the cold ground. Amy's eyes widened, and she fumbled to get back to her feet with a yelp.

"Sonic?" She exclaimed, kneeling at his side. She stared at him in horror. His misshapen pupils had grown to cover the entire surface of the eye, leaving them solid black. They were unnaturally dark; not even the bright, winter sun, now a vivid disk just above the horizon, didn't spark even a tiny twinkle in them.

Amy looked around in panic for any sign of help, then returned her gaze to the unconscious hedgehog. She grabbed his wrist to check for a pulse, only to find a slow, rhythmic beat every few minutes.

She let out a sigh of relief. At least he was alive. The pink hedgehog took a shaky breath and brushed dirty snow off the matted fur on Sonic's neck, glancing around again. She calmed herself, and stood up. Perhaps if she stood on the mangled tree stump a better view would be presented, possibly enabling the finding of another person who could help.

She observed the stub with furrowed brows. It was oddly familiar. After a moment, she let out a gasp. The curious stump was not a stump at all, but what looked like a distorted statue of Rouge, Knuckles, Vanilla and Cream playing an unruly game of rugby. Amy felt a sudden and random spasm of fear towards it, her instincts demanding that she get far away quickly. Still too tired to argue with her intuition, she ran. Not in a particular direction, simply away.

After sprinting along a nonexistent path for nearly ten minutes, Amy froze, realizing she was standing directly in front of Tails' house.

"Tails!" She cried, jogging up to the front door. She banged her fist upon it a few times, but there was no answer. After waiting nearly five minute, Amy pushed the button to open it in desperation, assuming the door was locked. To her surprise, however, the door opened instantly.

Amy peeked inside, puzzled.

"Tails?" There was no answer. She knocked again. This time, a tiny whimper came from the workshop. She frowned.

"Hina?" The hedgehog stepped through the doorway and into the overgrown jungle. She glanced around and let out a scream; two bodies lay singed on the ground, dried blood splattered around them on the cold tiles. They were both bald, and their skin was badly burned and covered with a pattern of crusty scabs, bruises and lacerations.

When Amy's gaze met the faces, she gagged and backed away into the wall. The eyes were blackened and sealed shut. She continued to look around the big room, and her eyes fell upon a tiny, green figure.

"Hina!" Amy exclaimed, running towards the tiny child. The baby looked unharmed, though she was whimpering, tiny tears running down her soft cheeks now dusty with ash. All together, however, she looked virtually unhurt as Amy scooped her up. Not comfortable being near the two charred corpses, the hedgehog carried her quickly to the kitchen, taking a shaky breath as she placed Hina in a highchair.

Amy grabbed a facecloth and wet it, washing the babies face, and noticing a long crack in the previously flawless blue gem which had lost some of it's luster and was no longer glowing. The hedgehog rubbed her temples, feeling anxious.

"Where's Tails?" she asked Hina, kneeling down so their faces were level. The baby kicked and struggled to escape from the chair, pointing desperately at the hallway. Amy nodded and jogged out of the kitchen.

Hina screamed, squirming madly in the chair, and stretching her arms towards the hedgehog. Amy pursed her lip; obviously Hina wanted to go along with her, but the pink hedgehog was terrified that Tails may have met the same fate as the two unfortunate bodies in the workshop, and didn't want the baby to be exposed to such a graphic scene.

After a moment of contemplation, Amy decided it was wise to bring Hina, considering how much the baby wanted to go. With a sigh, she returned to the highchair and gently lifted the tiny figure. Baby in arms, the hedgehog sheepishly walked through the hall, peeking through doors as she reached them. When they arrived outside the bedroom, Hina squealed and nearly wiggled out of Amy's grip.

"Do you want down?" she asked, placing the baby on the carpeted floor and stepping into the bedroom. "Stay out there."

She peeked around the room; in and under the empty bed, around the desk. After a moment of searching, she located a still, black body pressed up against a wall. She timidly stepped closer and crouched next to it, reaching out a hand and recognizing the figure as Tails'.

Amy heard Hina scream, and something bright hit her in the side, knocking her away from the kitsune's still shape. She blinked, and looked over her shoulder to see the baby clinging to her back with a look of terror in her eyes.

Hina pouted and pointed at the black cocoon.

"Mipro!" She had tears in her blue eyes again as she crawled off Amy's back and towards the body, an arm outstretched. Amy opened her mouth to protest, but the look of determination in the little one's eyes silenced her. Hina placed a hand on what would be the forehead of the stiff figure.

Instantly, the web entwining Tails retracted and his panicked cerulean eyes were revealed.

"Hina!" He cried, straining to sit up, but the web hadn't yet released his torso or legs.

"Mipro!" Hina giggled, smiling. She climbed onto his chest and snuggled into his fur.

"Amy?" Tails said, seeing the pink hedgehog. She looked both amazed and shocked, her eyes wide.

"What happened to you?" She asked, crawling over to his side. Tails shook his head and stood up, now completely freed of the black cage.

"Hina was crying, and I got up to see her… then everything just went black." He furrowed his brow and grabbed Amy's hand, helping her up. "How did I get out?"

Amy shook her head.

"I'm not sure… Hina did something, and the black stuff just sort of melted away."

Tails looked at the baby, now sleeping cuddled into his fur. The kitsune had a proud, grateful in his eyes.

"She did?"

Amy nodded with a smile. Tails pulled Hina off his chest and looked her over. When he noticed the scratch on the icy blue gem, he frowned.

"What happened?"

The hedgehog shook her head again.

"That's how I found her."

Tails cocked his head.

"Found her?"

Amy shot the baby a look of concern.

"There are two people in the workshop… They're…"

She met Tails' eyes, trying to explain the situation to him without using words; it was inappropriate for Hina's young ears, although she likely wouldn't understand anyways. Amy knew he understood the message from the disbelieving look that appeared on his face. Tails handed the clinging baby to her and walked quickly towards the workshop.

"Mipro?" Hina yawned, rubbing her eyes. She looked around, then nuzzled into the crook of Amy's elbow. A moment later, Tails returned, looking disgusted.

"So, how did you get in? I locked the door…"

"Well," Amy began, thinking back. "The other night I went looking for Sonic, and-" she smacked herself on the forehead. She snatched Tails' hand and dragged him out of the room, Hina still in her arms.

"What are you-" Tails tried to ask, sounding surprised and disgruntled. They reached the door, and Amy strategically led them around the stiff bodies,

"I'll explain later. Get your coat." Not waiting for the kitsune to grab a warm jacket, she tugged him out into the chilly morning air. Amy trudged on, an iron grip on Tails' numbing hand. After about twenty minutes, they reached the misshapen statue-like growth. While speaking to Tails nearly half an hour earlier, Amy had recalled the reason she had happened upon them in the first place.

"That's what you looked like." Amy gasped, out of breath. She placed Hina on the cold snow, and the baby timidly crawled towards the black mound. For a moment, her young face expressed a look of deep contemplation which was far too mature for her age. Then, evidently making up her mind, the baby placed a tiny hand on what appeared to be the back of Vanilla's head. She closed her eyes and winced as the flawed stone on her chest pulsed slightly. The black cocoon began to ebb away, but painfully slowly. Nearly a minute later, a patch of rich brown-orange fur was visible. Hina opened an eye, then the other. She peeked down at her handiwork and stroked the soft fur with her index finger, looking extremely pleased with herself.

Both Tails and Amy watched her in amazement, speechless.

"Hina?" Tails squeaked. The baby looked up at him with a beaming toothlessly. She slid off the four mounted bodies and landed with a thump and a giggle on the snowy ground. Ten minutes of silent watching passed, and Vanilla's entire head was freed.

"Cream?" She cried, trying desperately to free herself.

"It's okay." Amy said with a teary smile, gently kneeling beside the four soon to be freed. "Cream'll be out in a little bit… right after you, by the looks of it."

Vanilla relaxed, relieved tears were glistening in her brown eyes. They all waited in silence until the rabbit was completely free of the tight webbing. She slipped onto her feet with surprising elegance and dignity considering she appeared to be in mild shock. Amy took her hand and led her a few feet away, where the two stood, silently comforting each other. The two ladies, Tails and Hina watched hopefully as little Cream's orange dress slowly appeared in the mass of black. The bunny's face was, unfortunately, the last thing to be relieved of the trap.

"Mother?" She whispered, a look of pure terror etched upon her face. Her brown eyes were wide and glassy. Vanilla rushed to her side and Cream collapsed into her mother's warm arms. Vanilla embraced her daughter in silence as tears flooded down both of their cheeks.

Next came Rouge, whose white fur looked illuminated in contrast to the black. The black leather of her outfit was stretched across a swollen elbow. The bat's head was freed and she gave the five others surrounding her a painful smile. When the black web had receded enough for her to stand, Amy helped her up.

"Are you alright?" The hedgehog asked, gesturing to the swollen joint.

"I'm fine. Where did the cat and the mouse go?"

Amy gave her a quizzical look.

"Cat? Mouse?"

"They were the ones who caught me up in that stupid stuff in the first place."

"Wait… you mean…" Amy began, her thoughts returning to Sonic. She could not, however, finish her sentence because she was interrupted by Knuckles, the moment his mouth appeared out of the mass of black.

"What the hell is this stuff?" The echidna asked in a murderous voice, trying to tug it off of his torso with a free hand. Rouge's heart skipped a beat. It had been knuckles lying so close beside her the entire painful time. With a great effort, she managed to restrain herself from rushing to his side.

Knuckles got up as soon as the last spot of black disappeared.

"How did you all get caught up like that?" Tails said, speaking for the first time in several minutes. First, Rouge told of the cat and mouse who had captured and bound her. Then, in turn, the other three unlucky people who had been previously encased explained how they had come to find and touch the curious statue. Knuckles edged behind the group

"So…" Tails said, deep in thought. He didn't speak for a moment. "Those two must be the bodies in the workshop. But what happened to them?"

He met only blank looks from all.

"What about Mr. Sonic?" Cream whimpered, peeking her head out of Vanilla's arms and looking at the blue hedgehog.

"Well…" Amy said picking Hina off the snow, anxious to see Sonic. "Hina freed all of you… Let's try with her."

The hedgehog placed the baby on the ground again, beside her still friend. Hina sat for a moment, cocking her head, then peeked up at Tails. She uncertainly placed her index finger on his hand, pressed to his side. Nothing happened.

"It's not working." Amy said, fidgeting with her fingers. "Why isn't it working, Tails?"

The kitsune looked at her, feeling both sad about the unresponsiveness of his friend, and uncomfortable about Amy interrogating him. However, he didn't blame her for her behavior, as he knew how much she cared for him. He shrugged awkwardly in response to her question.

The pink hedgehog crawled beside Hina and grabbed the baby's hand. She pressed it on Sonic's forehead.

"Like this, Hina, do it like before."

"Amy…" Vanilla said calmly, bending down so they were face to face. "I don't think Hina can fix him."

"No!" Amy cried, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. She leaned over so close to Sonic's face that their noses brushed together.

"Wake up." She whispered, staring desperately into his blank, dark eyes. Sonic didn't respond. Tears were dripping down her cheeks and leaving tiny round holes in the snow below.

Behind her back, Knuckles grabbed Rouge's hand and pulled her away from the others, who were watching Amy in pity, all at a loss for words. The echidna dragged the bat silently behind a large fur tree. His large hands grabbed her shoulders, and Knuckles stared into her teal eyes. Without a second thought, he pulled her into his arms in embrace. Rouge felt her muscles melt away and she was supported completely by his strong arms. It felt amazing to be kissed, rather than to kiss. In all her fantasies, she had assumed that secretive and shy Knuckles wouldn't have been the one to kiss, and that she would be the one to make the first move. They stood close together, Rouge's eyes gently shut and Knuckles' watching her calm, content face.

* * *

"Please."

Sonic could hear Amy's pleading voice, but despite straining to move, could do nothing to comfort her. He felt disgusted with himself. Hot drops of water warmed his skin, and he assumed they were tears because of Amy's sobs.

"Miss Amy?" Squeaked a voice he recognized as Cream's. The sobs quieted. "Do you remember in the hospital?"

"Cream," Amy choked "That was just a silly joke."

"But-"

"Alright." The hedgehog said, obviously trying not to snap at the little girl. "I'll give it a try."

There was silence, and no one seemed to be so much breathing.

Sonic felt a light body press itself against hiss and soft, warm hands caress his cheeks. He could feel her lips brush his, and it felt like the warmth of being scalded minus the pain. After the short sweep, Amy pressed so their bodies were tight together. Warmth spread like fire through Sonic's body, his limbs tingling. A light border began to form around edge of his vision which slowly grew until, blinking, he could see Amy's smiling face, looking breathtakingly radiant. He could feel something wet running down his cheeks. Amy wiped away a black liquid from his cheeks, looking puzzled, but happy.

"Sonic?" she whispered, shaking the ebony tears from her hand. She stood and helped Sonic to into a sitting position.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" Cream said with a giggle. Overcome with a rush of joy, Amy pulled the bunny down in a warm embrace. Both girls had teary eyes. Hina crawled over to them, and joined the pair, hugging Cream around her waist. After a moment, Vanilla entered the hug with open arms around her daughter. Knuckles and Rouge returned, hand in hand, eyeing the heartwarming mob with identical raised eyebrows.

"Err…" The echidna said awkwardly, breaking the silence. All of the girls- and Sonic- laughed, gazing up. For one warm, blissful moment all troubles seemed to melt away until only an instant of bare love and caring remained. Hina giggled, clapping. She crawled a few meters away from the group, and they all watched her in surprise. The baby shuffled to Tails' feet.

"Mipro?" reaching her arms up with tiny fists. Tails lifted her tiny body high so she was a silhouette in the bright sun. A tiny lump in the snow by the kitsune's feet began to swell, and a green sprout peeked out. It grew tall, crawling and curling around Tails' leg for support. It stretched until the green stem reached the baby's beaming face. A pink rose blossomed and bloomed. The baby plucked it from its stem, sniffing it with a smile. She handed it to Tails, who smiled warmly at her. As he took it, the baby's face elongated slightly. The soft pink buds on the sides of her head blossomed and grew to become hardy roses.

"That's my girl." The kitsune whispered, kissing her cheek.

* * *

**The last A/N:**aww musheey! Hemhem… there you have it :)… fifteen chapters… a lot of words… sixty-seven days in the making. Sorry about the ending… I'm really never good at conclusions 0.o… I have lots of mixed emotions right now... I mean I'm pretty happy it's done… but really sad about that also. I'm excited too! I've got a few ideas for new stories, plus perhaps a sequel?!? And see?! I told you guys I'm not cold-hearted enough to kill anyone!! Also, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed throughout the entire story :)… Here are their names, check these people out because they are AWESOME!:

sonicliveson, vintagegamenerd45, Shika Kev Prower, crimson-obsidian-rose, Zoran Prower, shadesoflightanddark, Knuckles13, TailsxCosmofan, Knuckles-san, and Plaguewalker. Also a few anonymous reviewers as well.

If I forgot you… or if you want your name off the list, sorry and please tell me so that I can fix it up! I might update this, but if I don't, please don't be upset with me.

Well… (sniff)… I suppose this means the end… Please review…

The End

--LA


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